


Plan B

by littlemaple



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alpha America (Hetalia), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mpreg, Omega England (Hetalia), Omega Verse, Single Parents, Slow Burn, USUK - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2018-05-17 12:00:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 55,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5868571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemaple/pseuds/littlemaple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur Kirkland's plan A was to graduate, find a good job, buy his dream house and, yeah, why not?, eventually get married. Unfortunately, once he got pregnant, this plan became a distant dream. He had to replan his life, and now, with a daughter, his Plan B includes making the best with what he has and, definitely, staying away from alphas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Playground

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there!  
> This is my first time posting anything omegaverse and I'm a bit anxious about it, oh my. I'd like to thank Mayumi Sato for dragging me to omegaverse (hell). Thanks, Mayumi! <3  
> I hope you guys like it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And, please, if you do, let me know with a commentary! I'd appreciate it a lot. I'm going o try to update this soon. So cya!
> 
> ps: this wasn't beta-read, so if you found any grammar mistakes, let me know, plz! English is not my mother tongue and any opportunities to get better are welcome! uwu  
> pss: i'll give this first chap a better tittle soon. i hope.

Arthur rushed towards the principal's office.

He was still wearing his blue and white uniform, and his hair was dripping because of the rain outside. He was also shaking a bit because of the cold, but it was the least of his worries.

He knocked the door and after an invitation, he went in.

The principal was sitting behind her big, dark wood desk. And sitting in one of the red armchairs in front of the desk, was Arthur's daughter. His eyes went immediately to her, checking if she was fine and if she had any bruises. She didn't. She only seemed upset, and looked away as soon as their eyes met.

“Mr Kirkland,” said the principal, indicating the remaining armchair, “please sit down so we can talk.”

“What happened this time?” Arthur said, with a mix of worry and tiredness in his expression and voice.

“Amelia was involved in a fight. It's the second this month.” the principal said, glancing at the little girl, who turned her head o the other side and huffed.

“She asked for it, dad, I swear.” she said. Her blond, shoulder-length hair was all messy, and the colorful hair clips that Arthur had helped her put in her hair that morning were all missing.

“Nobody asks to be punched in the stomach, Amelia.” the principal replied, dead serious.

“She did!” the little girl looked at her father, “She said bad things about our family, dad. I had to do something about it. She has no right to say our family is broken… even if it is…”

Arthur had to look away. He couldn't take his daughter’s look. She was so young, and it was so unfair that she had to pay for Arthur's mistakes.

“Sweetheart, our family is not broken.” he said, trying to sound convincing. He smiled, touching her shoulder lightly. She pushed his hand away.

“You don't need to lie to me.” Amelia said.

She was only 6.

Arthur was only 25.

And life was complicated to a two people family living with just a bit more than the minimum wage.

* * *

 

Saturdays were Arthur's day off.

Usually, he'd spend the whole day at home, but today was going to be different. Because of what happened at Amelia's school the last week, he decided to do something different with her.

Of course, he knew he had to punish her for fighting – she wasn't allowed to watch TV for the whole week – but still, he couldn't stop thinking about what she had said at the principal's office.

Arthur didn't want her to think that their family was broken, even though… yeah, an omega raising a little alpha girl wasn't something easy to find. That is, it wasn't that uncommon to find divorced couples raising a child together, but Arthur had never been part of a couple with anyone. He'd always been alone. Ever since he found out about being pregnant.

But it didn't make them a broken family. He loved Amelia, and he was doing everything he could to guarantee she was going to have a chance to be anything she wanted. He wanted her to know that she was loved, and that her happiness was all that mattered to him.

That's why he decided to take her to her favorite playground.

“I will take you there to play during the morning, and then we're going to have lunch at the mall so you can get that Happy Meal toy you wanted, and then we can go to the movies watch anything you want. What do you think?” Arthur had said last Friday night while he tucked Amelia in.

“Can we also have ice cream?” she asked.

“Of course, sweetheart.”

Amelia smiled, rubbing her eyes and saying “Good night”

* * *

 

They arrived at the playground at nine in the morning. Arthur made sure Amelia was wearing enough suncream, and only then allowed her to go playing with the other kids.

He had chosen a bench from which he could see well the entire playground, and from there he watched happily as his daughter played, and laughed, and seemed to be making friends and meeting old ones.

After a while, he took a book from his bag and started reading, looking up to check on Amelia after two pages at time.

Things seemed to be maintaining this rhythm, wasn't for…

“Hey. Mind if I sit here?” said a voice. Arthur didn't need to look up to smell an alpha. He grimaced. And he only looked up because he didn't want to seem impolite.

“No, not at all,” he said, moving a bit more to the side to give room for the alpha.

“Thanks,” he said, sitting with a sigh, “Jeez, my nephew wouldn't leave me alone if I didn't bring him here. Kids.” he said. Arthur could notice he was trying to be friendly. And even though he wasn't interested in doing so, he saw himself replying,

“This is a good area. Pretty safe, too. And the best part is that we don't get to do anything. Our only mission is to sit here and check on our kid from time to time. Easy peasy.”

The alpha laughed.

“You're not from around here, are you?”

“Actually, I live really close to here.” Arthur said.

“Oh? No, no, I mean. You're not from the States, are you?”

“Oh… Yeah, no, I'm not. What gave me away? The easy peasy?”

“That too, but mostly the accent. British, I'd say?”

“English, yes.” Arthur nodded. He looked up after Amelia, and found her playing in the swings.

“Cool. And what are you doing here? I mean, not _here_ , in the playground, but here in the States? College, I assume?” the alpha guessed. Arthur didn't like the way he was smiling.

“Not anymore.” Arthur said simply, not wanting to give too much on his personal life. The alpha seemed curious about that reply.

“How so, not anymore?” he looked up for a moment, and then got up, waving his hands in the air and yelling, “Matt! Get the heck out of there! You're going to get yourself hurt!”

Arthur followed his gaze. He was looking at a small boy who was hanging from the structure of one tree house. The boy was smiling, but he _could_ fall any moment. The alpha said he'd be right back, and ran towards the boy. Arthur couldn't follow the rescue, for his daughter approached him saying that she was thirsty.

With a nod, he took her water bottle from his bag, and sat her on the bench beside him, asking her how she was liking the playground.

Not much longer after it, the alpha was back. He wasn't carrying the little boy, so Arthur assumed he had let the boy playing elsewhere.

“Sorry about that. Matt is a quiet boy, but sometimes he does things like that… Oh. And this is your…?” the alpha hesitated. He didn't know what was Arthur's connection with that small little girl.

“This is Amelia, my daughter.”

The alpha's confused face was just a little bit cute. He looked from the girl to Arthur, and from Arthur to the girl,

“No way. You gotta be joking.” he said.

“I'm not joking. She's my daughter. Aren't you, sweetheart?”

“Yes. Dad's taking me to eat a Happy Meal later.” Amelia said. The alpha blinked, confused.

He wanted to ask more questions, Arthur realized, so he suggested Amelia went back to playing, a task that she happily accepted.

“B-but you aren't even 27, are you? You're super young!”

“Indeed. I'm 25. Look—“

“And you don't have an alpha scent! I thought… you were single…”

Arthur sighed.

“Look, I appreciate you attention and your interest for my life, but I'm really not interested. So anything related to my personal life is not open to discussion.”

The alpha still looked confused, but he hadn't a reason to insist. His blue eyes looked to a side to another, not knowing where to stop. He was about to apologize when he caught the sight of Amelia and his nephew fighting. He said “Hey!” before he ran towards the kids, and when Arthur realized it, he ran, too.

It was easy to separate the kids, but it was hard to solve the problem. Both of them started talking at the same time, accusing each other, and Matt was crying.

“It doesn't matter who started it, Matt, you shouldn't be fighting like this. I'm responsible for you during the weekend. Your mother will kill me if you're hurt when she comes pick you up!” the alpha said. His kid started crying harder.

“Don't blame him,” Arthur said, “This is Amelia's third fight this month… I think it's pretty clear who started it.”

“You have to believe me, dad! I didn't do it this time!” Amelia said, and she started crying too. Arthur felt guilty.

“Hey, It really doesn't matter who started it.” the alpha said, looking to the kids, “You only have to make amends now. Oh, hey, weren't you taking your… daughter… to eat a Happy Meal? Mind if we stick around? This way we can make sure that they're in good terms with each other. I don't want this happening again in the future.” he smiled.

Arthur wanted to say no. God, he didn't want to get involved in any way with a stranger alpha if he could avoid it. But it'd be too rude to say no. He hesitated and argued with himself for a long while before finally saying that, yes, they could go together.

“It will be good for the kids,” he finalized.

The alpha smiled.

“Great! Ah, by the way, name's Alfred Jones!”

“Ah. I'm Arthur Kirkland. Nice to meet you, Alfred.” Arthur replied, shaking the hand Alfred had offered him.

Despite his smile, though, he was wishing they could end that lunch really quick and without incidents, so they could resume their lives without, fortunately, meeting ever again.

But life didn't usually follow Arthur's plans.


	2. Online

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awkward conversations and spoiled kids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!!  
> Wahhh, I'm so happy to see I've received so many kudos and comments!!! Thanks so much, guys!! ;w; <3  
> That's why I decided to post this chapter now! That, and because I realized something... When writing fics in Portuguese two years ago, I used to write loong chapters. But I'd usually get some writer's block or school stuff to do and I'd take months to post updates. I didn't want to post short chapters and stuff. But now I realized that it's better if I post short chapters and update the fic more often. Right? About 2k words each four or so days is better than 8k words once two months... right? 
> 
> That said, enjoy your reading!

All Arthur wanted was for that lunch to end quickly.

Of course, that was not what happened.

During their meal, the kids left behind whatever was the reason for their fight and were now chatting like best friends.

And while the kids talked and laughed with each other, playing with their toys from the Happy Meal, Arthur and Alfred stood sitting there, in awkward silence, eating a hamburger each.

Alfred tried to start conversation more that three times, but he eventually gave up when he realized Arthur wasn't in the mood for talking, since he always ended their conversations quickly.

“What do you do for a living?”

“I work”

“Uh…”

And so on.

Eventually, Arthur hooked his phone from his pocket and, looking at the time, he thought that was a great opportunity to say that they should go their separated ways,

“Well, Amelia, we should get going, don't you think? If we don't go now, we might loose the time for that movie you want to watch.”

That was an extremely convincing argument for the little girl, who nodded enthusiastically.

“Ok! But dad, can Matt come too?” she asked. Arthur felt his stomach sinking. How could he say no to that preciously happy smile on his daughter's face? He hesitated.

Fortunately, Alfred seemed to get the hint,

“Sorry, Amelia, we can't. Matt and I already have plans.” he said, patting Matthew's shoulder.

Matthew, in the other hand, didn't seem pleased with that turn of events, and shook his head,

“No, we don't! Please, uncle, let's watch a movie with Amelia!” he asked, almost begged.

A cloud of awkwardness started to float above both adults, who looked at each other in discomfort. After a few seconds, with both kids almost crying that they wanted to stay together for a longer while, Arthur sighed,

“Fine. It's ok if Matt comes along.”

Both kids celebrated, hugging each other and chuckling. Arthur tried not to look at Alfred, who thanked him quietly.

And during the rest of the afternoon, the cloud of awkwardness kept following the adults. While the kids were pretty happy with each other, the older men were quiet and distant from each other. Arthur noticed that Alfred looked much more uncomfortable than he was, but… well, it wasn't his business. Arthur didn't want to make acquaintance with an alpha. He had his reasons.

And after what seemed to be years, the afternoon finally ended, and they could go their separated ways – not without telling their kids that they'd be seeing each other soon.

* * *

 

During the week, Amelia went to her babysitter's house after school, and Arthur picked her up everyday at 7 pm. And during the whole week after meeting Alfred and Matthew, there wasn't a single day in each Amelia didn't ask about when they'd be meeting again.

“I don't know, sweetheart. Maybe we'll see them again in the playground next Saturday.” Arthur said. He hoped they didn't.

“Can Matt come over? So we can play just the two of us! And we can play video-games!” Amelia suggested.

“Don't you want to invite any other friend over? What about Lizzy or Peter?”

“Nooo...” Amelia pouted, “Peter's annoying and Lizzy is boring… Matt is better. He doesn't talk much and he listens to me. Please, daddy!”

There was no way Arthur could go against that look on his little girl's face. Maybe, he thought, he spoiled that girl too much.

“Uhhh, well, we'll see, ok? We'll have to meet they at the playground and then invite Matt over. I don't have Alfred's number.”

Amelia kept her pout, but that was better than nothing, which made her thank her father.

Arthur sighed. He didn't like the road they were taking.

* * *

 

Unfortunately to Arthur, they didn't have to wait until the weekend.

It was a Thursday night when Arthur saw a notification on his phone that made him frown. His fingers hesitated on the screen, uncertain what to do. He had received a friend request on Facebook from Alfred F. Jones. The picture of a cute alpha laughing and wearing a basketball shirt didn't lie – that was the same Alfred Jones he'd met at the playground.

Arthur gulped. He briefly wondered how Alfred found his Facebook profile – then he realized it probably hadn't been so difficult; there was a picture of Arthur and Amelia smiling as his profile picture, after all. And he doubted there were many Arthur Kirklands living in that State. Ugh.

What was he supposed to do?

He didn't want to accept that request.

But… Amelia seemed to have liked Matthew, and… uuh… maybe he could befriend Matthew's parents (who hopefully weren't alphas…) and so he could just… ignore Alfred later on. Yes. Seemed like a good plan. Kinda.

With this in mind, Arthur accepted the request. And too soon, he received a message from Alfred.

 

Alfred F. Jones:

Hello! This is Alfred, from the playground! :D

 

Arthur Kirkland:

I know.

 

Alfred F. Jones:

yeah… so… hhh… ok dude, I see that you don't like me

and trust me, I usually would back the fuck off

but im just doing this for my nephew ok

so, yeah, matt liked amelia and he keeps asking about when theyre be meeting again…

 

Arthur Kirkland:

It's not that I don't like you in particular. I'm sorry. I just don'r feel comfortable around alphas. I don't mean to be rude.

*don't

Amelia's been asking about Matt too… she wants him to come over to play. So… if you want, you can bring him here next saturday. I'll try to be friendly if you choose to stay. You can leave Matt and come pick him up later, too.

 

Alfred F. Jones:

uhhhh… sorry, but I hardly know you, so I cant just leave my nephew with you

no offense

u seen like a good guy, but u never know

god its gonna be so awkward

 

Arthur Kirkland:

I know what you mean.

Sorry

As I said, I'll try to be friendly. We can watch something, so we don't feel like we have to talk to each other.

 

Alfred F. Jones:

sounds like a good plan

I choose what we'll be watching

 

Arthur Kirkland:

you're forbidden from choosing anything cheesy

 

Alfred F. Jones:

damn

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next one will be longer, I promise, lol!  
> Also, what do you guys think about this part with internet chat? Is it bad? I can avoid it in the future if you wish.  
> Cya soon!


	3. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friendly conversation and denial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!  
> Thanks for all the kudos!! I wasn't expecting so much, omg! ;w;  
> I hope you guys like this chapter!  
> And, sorry, it wasn't beta-read either. I still didn't found someone to do it for me. I'm working on that!

It was three in the afternoon when Arthur's intercom ringed. Immediately, Amelia started jumping and making noise around her father, who tried asking her to stop, but she didn't – until it was their doorbell's time to ring, and then the little girl rushed to the door and opened it with a quick move, almost jumping on Matthew when she saw him.

Both kids laughed, and not much after that Amelia was pulling Matthew inside, saying that he should see her video-games and toys. And quietly, after a greeting nod to Arthur, he followed her.

Arthur then was left with an uncomfortable alpha at his door frame, scratching his neck unnecessarily.

“Good afternoon,” he then said, cleaning his throat, “please, come in.”

“Thanks,” Alfred said, coming in. He stopped to take off his coat, realizing just then that… “Uh… sorry to ask, but why are you wearing your coat indoors?”

“Well… because I'm cold.” Arthur said simply. Alfred raised his eyebrows, but decided not to ask about that. He didn't want to pick a fight. He had just arrived, after all. And for that, Arthur felt relieved.

He also felt relieved when he saw Alfred noticing how most of his furniture wasn't proper to omegas and not asking about it.

Arthur didn't want to explain how furniture for omegas were more expensive and how he didn't want to pay more for things that he could have cheaper when he had to save for more important things. Like Amelia's education.

So, yes, he'd ratter wear a coat indoors than to pay an arm and a leg for some rugs, couch, heater and things like that.

He already had to pay more for an apartment with an especial room for an omega and had bought a bed designed for omegas… that was enough for him.

(At least, that's what he liked to say to himself)

“So...” he finally said, trying to make some polite smalltalk, “I'm guessing you brought something for us to watch?”

“Yep!” Alfred said with a nod. He searched his pockets for something, and after a while of worried grimaces, he finally smiled and waved a flash drive in the air, “Here we go! I hope you like Marvel.”

Arthur sighed. “I'll get us some popcorn and check on the kids. Do you mind turning on the TV? The remote is on the couch.”

“Sure.”

Arthur's apartment was small. Small living room, even smaller kitchen, one bathroom and two bedrooms. It didn't have much furniture in it, either. Only the essential. Modesty apart, Arthur liked to think he'd made a good job decorating that place. It was organized and comfortable… it was a good home.

He left Alfred in the living room and put popcorn in the microwave, and then went to see the kids. They were playing with Amelia's toys, and seemed to be enjoying each others' company.

“Call me if you need anything, ok, sweetheart?” he said to Amelia, who nodded and dismissed her father with an impatient hand gesture. Arthur sighed, and went back to the kitchen to get the popcorn.

When he walked back to the living room, Alfred had a strange smile on his face. He showed Arthur a DVD, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

“What?” Arthur said, confused.

“You never mentioned that you liked Japanese animation?!” Alfred said, almost like he was accusing Arthur of a crime, and he blushed.

“ _What?_ ”

“Here. This DVD. It's Fullmetal. It's anime.”

“And who gave you the right to go snooping on my things?” Arthur defended himself, taking the DVD from Alfred's hand and putting it back on its place on the shelf.

“I wasn't snooping. I was just looking at your bookshelf in my innocent waiting! And then I saw these DVDs…”

“That's what a snooper would say.”

Alfred sighed, rolled his eyes and sat down on the couch.

“I was just asking. I'm not trying to make it even worse for us, ok? I just saw that we had something in common and I thought hey, maybe this is something we can talk about instead of just, you know, sitting in silence and feeling super awkward and stuff.” Alfred explained himself.

And Arthur stood there, looking at him, studying his expression. He seemed to be talking the truth. That is, Arthur didn't have a reason to think he was lying. He'd be paranoid to think so. He sighed. Alfred didn't seem to be a bad person. As long as he kept his guard up, they could talk and, perhaps, even have a somewhat good time together.

He nodded, and sat down beside Alfred.

“Yes, I like anime.” he said. Alfred blinked, surprised, “Well, used to. I don't have time to watch it anymore.”

“Because of Amelia?”

“Because of my job.” he shook his head lightly, dismissing that subject, “But so, you're a weeaboo? I could never say.”

“I'm not a _weeaboo_! I just like to sometimes watch Japanese animation and, sometimes, make some marathons on my free time…” Alfred said.

“Weeaboo.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Arthur chuckled.

That afternoon, they didn't watch the movie Alfred that brought on his flash light. Actually, even though they had decided on watching Arthur's DVD, they didn't watch it. The episodes were playing, but they didn't pay it attention, so immersed on their conversation on fictional characters and theories.

They had a good time.

And at the end of the day, when Alfred pointed that it was late, grabbed Matthew and left, with a promise of meeting again next week, Arthur was left with a strange feeling. A feeling he didn't have ever since… ever since he was living on his dorm, worried about exams, friends and parties. A feeling of enjoying his life. It was weird how such a silly conversation had been able to wake such a strong feeling on him. And maybe it was this fact that made it all so weird.

He sighed, and went to tell Amelia it was time to take a shower.

And while he did it, he thought to himself that maybe, just maybe, he could use some new friends. Not the kind he had in college, no. The kind of friends he could invite over to his apartment and talk about silly things, and kids, and responsibilities, but in a light and funny way. He wondered how and were he could find friends like that, and tried not to think of Alfred, because when that day started, he was thinking that he didn't want to be an acquaintance of that alpha, and he didn't want to end that day thinking about becoming his friend. And since he was good with denial, he managed to avoid these thoughts. At least for a while.


	4. Evening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A pleasant evening for sharing information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! Sorry I took so long, orz.

 During that following month, Arthur tried to befriend some of his coworkers. Most of them were about 30, and some of them had kids. Easy, he thought.

 

But it took him much less than a week to realize that no, that wouldn't be easy at all. But he didn't want to give up so soon, because his mind kept telling him that if he did, he'd have to befriend Alfred, something he still didn't want to do. So he kept trying.

 

He tried befriending the woman that worked right beside him, but she didn't have a sense of humor. There was no way he'd befriend someone with no sense of humor.

 

He then tried to get closer to the valet parking man. He was funny. But all he did was talk about his ex wife and Arthur wasn't at all interested in her or about how evil she was.

 

And so it went for the whole month. Yes, he got closer to a lot of his coworkers, but he didn't think any of them where worth befriending and inviting home. Most of them seemed to hate their kids, a feeling Arthur wasn't willing to share. He loved Amelia too much.

 

And that's why, he told himself, he kept having Alfred over at his apartment. Because of Amelia. So Amelia and Matt could play. Alfred and him spending the afternoon talking to each other was, definitely, only a side effect of Matt and Amelia being friends.

 

A good side effect, Arthur had to admit. Alfred was funny and kind, and he usually didn't insist on things that made Arthur uncomfortable.

 

"What do you work with, Arthur?" 

 

“I'm a receptionist at a hotel.”

 

“Oh, cool. You were studying hotel business at college?”

 

“…”

 

“… W-well… Have I mentioned that I have a degree in design?”

 

“Yes. You work for an advertising agency, right?”

 

And so on. Arthur was glad that Alfred managed to get his hints and change the subject.

 

The problem was – if that was actually a problem… - that Arthur was feeling less and less uncomfortable when questions of his past came up. And it made him feel uneasy. Because it meant that he was getting used to Alfred's presence, and comfortable with it.

 

And, yes, he knew that he shouldn't set all alphas on fire just because one of them did something awful to him. It was just… he still had his worries. Other omegas couldn't get him pregnant and it would be very difficult for a beta to do it. But Alphas could. And they also could just walk away afterward as if nothing had happened.

 

But still… Alfred was nice. He was good with kids and his nephew loved him, and Amelia liked him, too. He could play with them for hours with such an excitement that Arthur never had for more than twenty minutes. It was lovely to see Amelia playing for so long and smiling so happily.

 

Maybe it wasn't a problem to befriend Alfred after all.

 

* * *

 

 

“Do you think about having children of your own, Alfred?” Arthur asked. It was Saturday evening, Matthew and Amelia were watching cartoons in the living room, and Arthur was making dinner. And while he chopped onions, Alfred sat at the table, watching him.

 

“Hmm, I dunno. I mean, I think I'm too young to be thinking about having kids,” Alfred chuckled, and then froze. He gulped, and agitated his hands in the air, “Oh. Oh, sorry, I didn't mean...”

 

“It's ok.” Arthur replied, smiling to himself and looking down. He put the onions in a pan and started chopping tomatoes, “Really, I didn't plan to have a daughter at this age. I don't think anyone does.”

 

“I kinda want to ask you how this happened, but...”

 

“Well, don't you know? What are they teaching kids at school nowadays?” Arthur laughed, and Alfred rolled his eyes,

 

“That's not what I'm talking about, you sassy ass.”

 

Arthur laughed again. He mixed the tomatoes with the onions, and while them cooked, he started to cut the meat.

 

“I know, I know. I just couldn't resist.”

 

“Yeah. Anyway, I wanted to ask you about it, but I don't want to, you know, cross some kind of border or something...”

 

“I know.” Arthur said. He stood there, cooking, quiet for a while, listing to Amelia's and Matthew's chuckles. “… I honestly don't have a big story behind it, really.”

 

“So you're going to tell me?”

 

“If you shut up and let me.”

 

“Ok, ok, go on.”

 

“Basically, I was studding for my coming finals, I was super stressed and tired… and then I forgot to take my contraceptive pills. My heat was supposed to star a few weeks after the finals, but it came earlier… I was a mess. I invited the alpha I was hooking up to stay with me and… well. When I discovered that I was pregnant and tried talking to him… he told me to fuck off.” Arthur shrugged with a not at all amused smiled in his face, “Long story short, it's just Amelia and me.”

 

“Wow… I'm sorry, Arthur. That's tough…” Alfred said at the end. Arthur didn't like the way he was looking at him.

 

“Please, don't pity me. I don't need it. Yes, I had to drop out of school, but I have a job, a home, a healthy kid. I'm doing just fine.”

 

“I'm not pitying you, Arthur.” Alfred shook his head, “I was just thinking that it's so unfair that you had to deal with it all alone. How about that alpha? He doesn't help you at all?”

 

“Nope. But I don't care. Actually, I prefer it this way. I can handle myself.”

 

“Still…”

 

“What are you going to propose? That you help me raise Amelia?” Arthur laughed. Alfred sighed and looked away.

 

“No, I wasn't. I was just… I don't even know. I was just saying that it's unfair.”

 

“Life's unfair.” Arthur corrected, and then he sighed, too.

 

It felt weird to have told Alfred about his past. It felt even weirder that he didn't feel uneasy about it. Actually, he was feeling a bit… relieved? It was… weird.

 

“Daaad!” Amelia called, and Arthur snapped out of his thoughts. He smiled to himself.

 

“Can you take care of this for me? I'll be right back” he asked Alfred, who agreed.

 

Amelia wanted him to put on another movie, which he did. Matthew said he was hungry, and Arthur replied that dinner was almost ready.

 

Arthur went back to the kitchen to finish dinner. Alfred seemed to be a bit more thoughtful, and when Arthur asked about it, he sighed, setting the table as Arthur had requested, “It's nothing. I just don't share your negative views of life, that is all.”

 

“We have our reasons to see life as we see it, don't you think?” Arthur said, starting to prepare the pasta.

 

“I guess.” Alfred shrugged, “But I still wish you can change for a more positive view of things someday.”

 

Arthur raised his eyebrows. He didn't understand why Alfred would care, and he decided it was best not to ask.

 

“Don't waste your wishes with impossible things,” Arthur laughed the subject away, “Instead, wish for juice on the table, which you can easily have by picking the jar on the fridge.”

 

Alfred rolled his eyes and opened the fridge to do as Arthur had asked.

 

After that, they focused on more lighter subjects, and the evening was pleasant for all of them.


	5. Friendship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO HELLO, LOOK WHO'S ALIVE!!!
> 
> No, I haven't forget this. It's just that I had a lot going on, and I was busy and all that and bluuhh... BUT this is back and this chapter is longer than the others to make up for all the waiting. THANKS SO MUCH for the nice commentaries, kudos and patience. 
> 
> I hope you like this chapter. It was really fun to write~ ;3

Amelia and Matthew became good friends very easily and very quickly, and every Saturday for almost four months, they wanted to see each other to play. As a result, every Saturday Alfred and Arthur had to meet and deal with each other, and the kids didn’t look like this scheme would end any time soon. 

And despite all the negative feelings Arthur had towards alphas in general, and despite how much he said to himself that he would never, ever again let one get close to him… Now Alfred was part of his routine, and Arthur didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to feel about it.

Even more when, one day, while at work, one of his coworkers asked what he did during the weekend and he said he had gone to a park with his daughter, her friend and her friend’s uncle. 

“Huh, and who is this uncle?”, his co-worker asked, smirking. 

“No, nothing like  _ that _ .” Arthur replied, “He’s just a friend.” 

And then it hit him.

Alfred was, in fact, a friend. 

The realization was weird, but the fact… was not. 

Alfred was a good person and Arthur… enjoyed being around him. He was funny, and smart, and… even thought he was an alpha, he respected Arthur. Yes, he was stubborn, he talked too much and he was always quietly hugging Arthur’s cushions and leaving his scent all around the place and Arthur was always loudly telling him to please stop, but… the more Arthur looked at it, the more it felt natural, and alright, and good. 

And… 

Perhaps… being Alfred’s friend wasn’t going to be such an awful thing, after all.

 

* * *

 

Later that week, Alfred messaged him: 

 

**Alfred:**

Hey hey arthur

 

Arthur looked at the message and, still kind of uncertain about that friendship, he put the phone down.

Five minutes later, another message:

 

**Alfred** :

U know i can see u saw my message and didnt reply right

Thats rude man

=(

 

Arthur sighed. He could almost see Alfred saying that with a half-smile in his face. 

 

**Arthur** :

Sorry, I’m busy. What is it?

 

**Alfred** : 

Yeah ok

Look 

Matt’s got a new game and hes all about inviting amelia over to play with him 

Because shes never came hereee and he wants to show her his toys tooo.. All that. 

So i was thinking

How about

U guys

Come over next saturday? Instead the other way around? 

 

The annoying, constant vibration of Arthur’s phone left him huffing angrily and, this time, he responded as fast as he could because Alfred was pissing him off. 

 

**Arthur** :

Can’t you just say everything you want to say in a single message, like a normal, educated person? And replying to your question, I don’t know. 

 

**Alfred** :

N

O

P

E

Long texts are weird and super formal

It makes me feel like we’re talking business 

And like this

Its casual

Dont u think? 

Anyway

What do u mean

U dont know

Instead of me taking matt there 

Ud come here with amelia

Same thign

 

It was not the same thing. 

When Alfred came over with Matthew, they were in Arthur’s home. It was familiar. It had  _ his  _ scent, and when Alfred walked in, bringing his scent to Arthur’s home, Arthur could just put some extra perfume and get some more environment aromatizers around the place and done. Alfred’s alpha scent was dealt with. 

Now… going to Alfred’s place… Although… 

 

**Arthur** : 

I don’t know. I have to see. What’s the address? Also, won’t Matthew’s mother be bothered? You’ll be bringing a stranger to her home. Lol

 

… it wasn’t Alfred’s place, was it?

 

**Alfred** : 

I’ll send you the address later :3

And

Nahhh

My sis doesnt mind

And also

Its not like ur a stranger anymore arhtur loool

Arthur*

 

**Arthur** :

Are you sure? How about her mate?

 

**Alfred** :

Nahhh emily doesnt have one

I mean

Anymore

Ever since then shes always talking about how both people should get marks and not only one and stuff lol

 

**Arthur** : 

Oh. Ok. See you Saturday then! 

 

**Alfred** : 

=D 

 

Then… Alfred’s sister was most likely an omega. It was fine by Arthur, to be in another omega’s home. He could deal with that.

* * *

 

He couldn’t deal with that, after all, Arthur found out when he got to his destination and Alfred happily opened the door for him.

Because Alfred’s sister was not an omega. 

Arthur gulped when he stepped inside, engulfed by not only one, but  _ two  _ distinct and strong alpha scents. He shrunk his shoulders while his heart raced and his body shake. He didn’t want to like alphas, but he was still an omega and he was still attracted to alphas pheromones and right know it was really, really hard to focus because Alfred was right there in front of him, smiling, and the house felt like it was visibly dripping his pheromones everywhere.

Arthur caught himself thinking about kissing Alfred right there and pressing their bodies together until Alfred decided to put im against a wall and fuc—No.

 

No, no, no no no no no no no… 

That was—No. Just, no. Arthur gulped, shaking his head to put the thoughts away while holding Amelia’s backpack in front of him because, yeah, maybe he was kinda hard and he didn’t want Alfred to notice it. Arthur didn’t want to deal with any of it. 

“You…” Arthur said, slowly, trying to keep his cool, “... didn’t mention you lived here… too…” 

“Oh, yeah.” Alfred said after a second, and then smiled with such innocence that it almost made Arthur suspicious, “I forgot? But yeah, I live with my sister. That’s kinda lame, I know, but she needed company and a babysitter and I needed cheaper rent…” he shrugged, “One thing let to another. But now I got a better job, so I’m planning on buying my own place soon… uh, are you ok? Do you wanna sit down?” he asked, raising his brows to Arthur. 

Arthur was feeling hot. Really, really hot. He had never noticed how strong and attractive Alfred’s scent was, maybe because his place was always too infected with lavender environment aromatizers, but… god, how he wanted to  _ touch _ Alfred. 

But he knew, he  _ knew _ it wasn’t him speaking, it was his body, his hormones reacting and all that chemistry crap. So he was aware when Alfred stepped a little closer, and then he stepped one back to keep it even. He didn’t want Alfred to get closer, he didn’t want… to do something he might regret. 

He sighed, 

“I’m—I’m fine. I just want--I  _ need _ some fresh air.” 

“Oh… Alright.” Alfred said, and maybe Arthur had too much going on in his head, but Alfred felt a bit… disappointed? “Here, let’s go the backyard.” he said while he guided Arthur through the living room, then kitchen. They left the house and Arthur finally was able to breath air that didn’t pollute his mind completely, and he left out a small smile. 

“Better?” Alfred asked, watching Arthur. 

“Yes, much. Uh… do you mind if we stay here? Outside?” he asked.

“No…?” Alfred replied, uncertain, “But why?” 

Arthur sighed, looking away. There were some colorful flowers in a small garden in the corner. Arthur almost smiled, thinking about his dream house back when he was a teen. He used to say he’d have a huge garden with all kinds of flowers around his house, and that it’d be the most gorgeous garden in the neighborhood. He then thought about the small, lonely vases of flowers he had around his apartment, and that was the closest to a garden he could possibly have. 

“Because,” he looked back at Alfred, “Two alphas live in this house, and their pheromones are  _ very  _ strong.” 

“Thanks.” Alfred smirked, cocky. 

Arthur rolled his eyes, 

“So I’d rather stay outside. I don’t know if I have  _ that much _ of self control.” 

Alfred looked like he was about to say something, his eyes going all around the place while he kept his mouth slightly ajar. But then he closed it and nodded. 

“Alright… if that’s what you want.” 

“That’s what I want, yes.” Arthur agreed, smiling to him. 

“Alright.” 

Arthur offered him another smile, this one much more awkward and self aware. There was some… awkwardness in the air, something Arthur didn’t know exactly why was there and part of him didn’t even want to know the reason. He felt like Alfred was waiting for something to be said or done, or even to say or do something himself. 

After what felt like long, long minutes, Alfred nodded to himself and said, 

“I’ll go check on the kids and get a couple of folding chairs. Or… would you like to sit on a rug? It’d be more comfortable, right?”

“I guess…” Arthur replied, uncertain. 

“Ok. So I’ll go get a rug and something for us to eat.”

And then he was gone. 

Arthur stared at the doorframe, suspicious and confused, but decided not to think too much into it. When Alfred was back, he helped him unroll a medium-size dark-blue rug on the grass, and they sat on it. Alfred had bought some snacks and a bottle of Coca-Cola, too. 

“I guess…” Alfred said, serving himself a glass of Coke, “...that showing you my posters and sick action figures is out of question, then. Since they’re in my room.”

“Unless you bring them here.” Arthur agreed. Alfred offered him a glass, and he accepted. 

“Ok, maybe later.” Alfred replied, chuckling a bit.  

“Ok.” Arthur said, “Not related to this, but… I confess I thought your sister was an omega. Until, you know, I got here.”

“Oh, no.” Alfred informed, “She’s an alpha. Her husband is—was an omega. He kinda died. I mean, he  _ did _ really die. It was an accident and stuff…” he looked down into his glass for a while,

“Sorry for your loss…” Arthur said mechanically, and then felt ashamed, aware that his words weren’t moved by feelings, but by the same force that made him say ‘you’re welcome’ after a ‘thank you’.

Alfred shrugged, “Nah, it’s ok. We weren’t really close, and it’s been a while. Even my sister is finally over it. She’s been going to see this guy from a neighbor State and all. She goes every weekend to stay with him.”

“Ohh, so that’s why you have to take care of Matthew?” Arthur asked,

“Yep. I really don’t mind. My sister’s a doctor and she works a lot and pay for most of the bills… And Matt doesn’t bother at all, so it’s ok by me to take care of him.” Alfred explained. 

A faint breeze made Arthur close his eyes, and he smiled a bit. 

“Don’t you miss going to parties in the weekend?” he said, smiling teasingly. 

“I don’t like parties that much.” Alfred, laugh, “But I do go out during the week.” 

“Young people and their free time.” Arthur said, chuckling. Alfred laughed again. 

And it felt nice. That afternoon felt so, so nice. And good and light, and Arthur hadn’t felt this way in so, so long… 

He smiled, happy, and felt like muttering a simple ‘thanks’ to Alfred, but he knew this would ask for explanations he wasn’t comfortable in giving. So he just smiled, agreeing with himself that, hey… being Alfred’s friend wasn’t going to be bad, after all. It was not going to be bad at all. 


	6. Desire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!! I've finished this chapter a little while ago, but I decided to post today because the first one was posted exactly one year ago. wow. 6 chapters in one year. I'm so sorry,, ywy;  
> I plan on updating this more often this year!!  
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Cya!

Alfred pressed Arthur against the wall, kissing him eagerly, and Arthur moaned into his ear, feeling as he was about to melt, so hot he, Alfred, everything was. Alfred said something, but Arthur wasn’t sure what. In response, he just mumbled, “To the bed…” and chuckled a bit when Alfred unexpectedly lifted him, making Arthur put his legs around his torso so he wouldn’t fall down. He then marched to the bedroom, dropping Arthur on the bed and stared at him while taking off his shirt.

Arthur bit his lip, looking at his body, wanting his body. And one second later, they were kissing again, pressing their bodies together and moaning, panting, gasping.

Arthur wasn’t sure if it’d been too long since he’d had sex and his body was too sensitive to every touch or if Alfred was, in fact, _really good_ , but the thing was that he was _loving_ it, and that when he noticed they were naked and Alfred was moving his kisses _downwards_ … he concluded he had no regrets. He wanted Alfred. God, and _how_ he wanted Alfred.

When Alfred’s lips teasingly touched Arthur’s penis, he supported his elbows on the bed and raised his head, almost out of breath, and demanded, “I-I want you _right now.”_ , which made Alfred smirk and enveloped Arthur’s cock with his mouth, and he fell down on the bed, groaning.

He closed his eyes to savor that feeling, and when he opened then again,

He was alone.

His alarm clock was ringing and his blanket was wet and sticky.

“Fuck”, he grumbled, hiding his eyes with his arm and sighing.

 

* * *

 

When Alfred rang the bell the next Saturday, Arthur found himself gulping and blushing and feeling ridiculous because of it.

“Amelia, could you open the door for Alfred and Matthew?” he asked his daughter, who’d been playing with her dolls and race cars in the living room.

“Okay!”, she replied happily, and Arthur smiled a bit, continuing to dry and put away some dishes. He heard Amelia say “Hello! Matt, come play with me!”, and he could almost see her dragging the little boy by the arm to where the toys were laying on the carpet.

After that, he heard Alfred say, “Don’t run, you two.”, and then, “Amelia, where is your dad?”

To which Amelia said simply, “Kitchen.”

Arthur knew, then, that Alfred would come to the kitchen, so he straightened his posture and tried to look casual and cool, which, of course, did not happen. In the moment Alfred walked in and their eyes met, Arthur blushed. His dream came back to his head too fast, and the images it brought were too vivid to ignore, and Arthur dropped the mug he was holding.

The sound of shattering glass made both of them step back. Arthur quickly apologized,

“Oh my g--I’m so sorry. I was distracted and--sorry. Are you hurt?”

“Ah, no, no, I’m fine. And you?” Alfred stepped closer, looking up and down Arthur’s body, which made him shiver, “You were the one closer to it, are you ok? I can--”

“I’m fine. It’s ok.” Arthur shook his head, forcing a clumsy smile to his lips.

Alfred frowned, but agreed.

Arthur sighed and walked to a kitchen drawer, where he took some newspaper pages to wrap the broken glass in. He also took an oven glove, so he wouldn’t cut his hands.

“Let me clean this mess…” he said, squatting and spreading the pages on the ground to swipe the glass on it.

“Do you need help?” Alfred offered, getting down too and holding the pages in place while Arthur used the glove to gather the pieces of glass.

“Thanks.” Arthur said quietly. While gathering the glass and putting them on the newspaper, he noticed Alfred wasn’t paying attention to him and used this brief momento to look at him. He had gorgeous blue eyes, Arthur said to himself, and he...  smelled really, really good. He had a strong but sweet-ish scent, and for a second Arthur wanted to bury his face on Alfred’s neck, and hug him, and… their eyes met. Arthur’s face reddened and he looked away, not seeing the small, happy smile on Alfred’s lips.  

After this, the rest of the afternoon was very.... Awkward. Arthur was too self-conscious to enjoy the movie they watched, and he was too aware of Alfred’s closeness and Alfred’s scent and Alfred… Everytime Alfred got a little bit closer, he found himself flinching or gulping. His body wanted their distance to end and them to make out against a wall like in his dream, but _he_ didn’t want that. He did not. He was ok being Alfred’s friend, but he was not going to make the same mistakes again - he was not going to allow an alpha into his bed. No. Never.

By the end of the afternoon, after the kids had had some snacks and their movie was over, Alfred had runned out of conversation starters that didn’t fulfill their jobs of starting a pleasant conversation and Arthur was feeling too tense and tired, Alfred asked:

“Uh… be honest. Did I do something wrong?”

Arthur blinked, confused, “What? No.”

“Really? Because it looks like it. You’ve been… I dunno, avoiding me? All day. If I did do something wrong, you gotta tell me, you know?” Alfred continued. He looked kinda… hurt?

Arthur felt a strange, confused warmth in his chest,

“No... You didn’t do anything… It’s just… I’m kinda sick.” he lied.

“Sick?” Alfred echoed, a bit of worry in his voice, “Do you need to rest…? A painkiller?”

Arthur chuckled, shooking his head, “No, it’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

“Hm, here, let me check your temperature,” Alfred added, moving his hand towards Arthur’s forehead. Arthur stopped it before it could reach its destination by grabbing Alfred’s wrist. It was warm. So, so warm. Omegas tended to need warmer environments than the other two types, and alphas had higher body temperatures (than omegas) to meet this need. Arthur remembered cuddling an alpha long ago, and how comfortable and cozy it was. He missed it. He immediately let go of Alfred’s wrist.

“There’s no need. I know myself and I know I don’t have a fever. Don’t worry, Alfred. If I had one, I’d do something about it. I have a daughter to take care of.” Arthur explained, and it seemed to be enough for Alfred, who smiled, agreeing.

Less than an hour later Alfred and Matthew left, and then Arthur made Amelia help him organize her toys, that were all over the floor. After the toys were taken care of, Arthur helped Amelia brush her teeth and put on her pajamas,

“Which one do you wanna wear today?” he asked, and she smiled,

“The one with the unicorns!” she smiled, and Arthur agreed.

“Did you have fun with Matthew?”

“Yes!” Amelia agreed, climbing on the bed once she was dressed. Arthur helped her get under the blankets, “We pretended my dolls were spies, and that they were going to save everybody from a bomb that my teddy bear had made!”

“Really?” Arthur lifted his eyebrows, picking up the pink teddy bear from a corner and holding it up, “What a terrible thing to do, Mr. Freckles!” he scolded the teddy, which made Amelia giggle, “After that, you still want to sleep with him?”

Amelia nodded and yawned,

“He only did it because he was being controlled by a very bad witch!” she explained, hugging the teddy as soon as Arthur gave it to her, “Can you give me a witch doll, dad?”

Arthur wasn’t sure about that. But he smiled anyway, taking Amelia’s hair from her eyes,

“Of course, sweetheart. I’ll look for one. But it might take a while for me to find just the perfect one, ok?”

“She doesn’t need to be perfect…” Amelia said, hubbing her eyes, “She just need to be a witch.”

Arthur kissed her forehead, nodding, “Alright. Now, sleep. I love you, my sunshine.”

“I love you too, papa.” Amelia replied, and then she added, “Papa?”

“Yes?”

“Your smell is starting to get funny again…” she complained.

“Oh…” Arthur didn’t know what to say for a second, “I… Sorry, sweetheart. I’ll start to wear perfume. Thanks for telling me, ok? Good night.”

“Good night…”

Arthur turned off the lights - but left on Amelia’s bedside lamp, and left.

Upon closing the door behind him, he walked to the kitchen, where he checked a calendar.

According to it, his heat was supposed to happen in a couple weeks. Arthur had… completely forgotten.

He closed his eyes for a moment, noticing that, well, that explained the dream he had, and how Alfred’s scent was affecting him.

He sighed.

The next day, after he got home from work, he knocked at his neighbor’s door.

“Good evening.” he said when she opened it,

“Hey. You need me to babysit Amelia?” she asked, smiling a bit. She was a friendly 30-something beta, and Arthur couldn’t ask for a kinder and sweeter neigbor and babysitter.

“Yes, but for my heat. In two weeks.” he said, a bit embarrassed.

“Sure! Wait… in two weeks, you say? Hmm…”

Arthur did not like that.

“Is there any problem?”

“No, I mean… Yes… I’ve got tickets to go see my parents. I’m leaving next week and I’m only getting back next month…” she explained, smiling apologetically.

“Oh…” Arthur said, even though he wanted to curse a little bit.

“Sorry, Arthur… why don’t you start taking those anti-heat pills… or something?”

“Because I’d need medical monitoring for a while… and this, pills and exams… it’d be too expensive.” Arthur explained with a sigh.

“I see. I’m sorry I can’t help you this time.”

“It’s alright. I’ll look for another babysitter. Thanks, Frankie.”

They exchanged a few more words, and then Arthur left.

He closed his apartment’s door behind him and rested his body against it, sighing.

“Fuck.” he said to himself.


	7. Stress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!
> 
> This chapter is a bit shorter, sorry! I've written two short stories for contests this month so i'm kinda tired and I still wanted to post at least something here so sdfkdf sorry i tried 
> 
> Also, thanks for the support!!! I love reading your comments! ;w; <3

Arthur was stressed.

His heat’s proximity always did it to him, but this time he had even more in his mind. Usually, he’d get home after work and go straight for a hot shower, then rest for a bit on his favourite armchair, watching cartoons with Amelia. Then he’d make dinner, they’d eat together and go to bed early.

But not now. Because now he didn’t have time to spare, he needed to find a babysitter for Amelia, and he needed to find one soon.

Arthur had always been picky with many things. With food, clothes, furniture and in the past, when he had time for it, also with what he read or watched. He was especially picky with babysitters. Amelia was the most important person in his life and she was so, so small and defenseless… he wanted someone responsible whom he could trust to take care of her during the five days in which he wouldn’t be able to go and rescue her if she needed.

Arthur had less than a week to find someone, and Arthur was not the kind of person to trust others in so little time. Thus, every profile he looked at didn’t seem suitable. Especially the ones he could afford.

Every time he got home and sat down to look at profiles, he felt like crying.

He was so used to his life and routine that he gave himself the privilege to forget to plan the nearest future ahead of him, and now it looked like everything was crumbling down and he wanted to cry.

Looking from a distance, it didn’t seem _that_ bad. Nothing big and awful had happened, but from where he was, it _was_ bad and awful and he did not know what to do about it.

Still, he knew he didn’t have time to lie down and cry, as much as he wanted to, because he had a little girl to look after, and he needed to do every thing on his hands to protect her. After a deep breath, he went back to work.

He selected five profiles that weren’t as good as he wanted, but they were all he could afford - in fact, two of them were higher than he could afford, but if he made some budget cuts here and there, it’d be alright.

He called the babysitters, and three of them already had jobs for the following week. The other two wanted double the price for such an urgent job.

Arthur hugged a pillow and screamed into it, feeling his eyes burning with tears he didn’t want to let out.

His phone buzzed on the table, and he took it mechanically, sighing when he read Alfred’s name.

 

 **Alfred** :

Hey arthur are you feeling better??

 

Arthur smiled a bit, rubbing his eyes before typing,

 

**Arthur:**

Kinda. Thanks.

 

**Alfred:**

Awwww =(

Get better!

Should matt and i let you rest this saturday?

 

**Arthur:**

Actually, yes. Not because I’m sick, but because of my heat. I think it starts Friday, so…

 

Alfred’s next message came so fast Arthur didn’t understand how did he type that _fast_ ,

 

**Alfred:**

Ah!!! Do you need anything? Like company or something. Offering as a friend!!!

 

Deep down, alphas all worked in the same way, didn’t they?

 

**Arthur:**

No, thanks. I’m used to being alone during my heats. I only nee

Nothing. It’s ok. Don’t bother.

 

**Alfred:**

What????

What is it????

tell me!

Arthur?

I know you’re there,

I can see ur reading my messages!!!!!

 

**Arthur:**

Nothing.

It’s nothing.

 

Alfred called. The phone started buzzing on his hand and Arthur almost dropped it. He stared at the screen for a few seconds, uncertain. Finally he accepted the call, placing the phone on his ear hesitantly.

“Hel—”

“What is it that you need?” Alfred said, and he sounded a bit hurried, but Arthur wasn’t sure.

“I… said it was nothing.” Arthur replied quickly.

“Yes, but I don’t believe that. Look—Listen, I’m sorry if I’m being an ass—”

“You are”

“—but I’m trying to help. Not because you’re an omega close to heat and I’m an alpha and all, but because we’re friends, right? And friends help each other because they’re friends, not because they want sex in return.” Alfred said, and Arthur almost laughed. He sounded… nervous? He was speaking fast, pausing at weird points.

“You do realize that it sounds like sex is exactly what you want, right?”

“Well, sorry! You _are_ an omega next to heat and, you know, I’ve only been with an omega in heat _once_ and it was _wooow_ , you know? I can’t help some stuff. But it doesn’t mean I don’t wanna help just as a friend.” Alfred replied.

There was an awkward, heavy silence for a second, in which Arthur didn’t know exactly what to say and Alfred seemed to be waiting.

“Are you t—”

“I need a—”

They spoke at the same time.

Alfred laughed, and then quickly told Arthur to say what was it he needed.

“I’m looking for a babbysitter,” he said quietly, “but I can’t find one.” he sighed, “Amelia usually stays with our neighbor, but she’ll be travelling his time… so I’ve been looking everywhere for someone to look after her for five days, but it’s so hard… I completely forgot about my heat, and I was counting on Frankie too much, so I just... “ he sighed again, rubbing the space between his eyebrows, “So if you could help me find—”

“I can take care of her.” Alfred said, settled. He was so confident in his words Arthur lost all his words for a moment,

“Sorry?”

“I said, I can take care of her.”

“You work” Arthur replied, confused,

“Yeah, and she has school, right? I can pick her up after that. And she can play with Matthew and my sister will be there, too.” Alfred said, “I have years of experience with Matthew. You can even ask him. He will probably tell you I give him ice cream before dinner sometimes, but it’s totally a lie.”

Arthur giggled, feeling some tears on his cheeks.

Alfred kept on talking,

“Ok, actually, it’s only true sometimes, not always. Like when he does his homework before anyone tells him to and all that. You can call everyday to check on her and I promise to send pictures of her so you’ll know she’s alright and—hey, are you… are you crying?”

“No”, Arthur sniffed, “Maybe.” he laughed a bit, rubbing his eyes. He was starting to feel relief entering his body with air, and it felt so, so nice.

He trusted Alfred more than any of those strangers babysitters, and leaving his daughter with him felt… safier.

He was stressed and tired and having a friend supporting him in a moment like that was… good. He agreed with himself that it was okay to cry, even if only for a few minutes.

“Aw, don’t cry! It’s alright! I’m gonna take care of Amelia so you don’t need to worry about that. So you can worry about other things. I mean! You know. Also I can help with other things too if you need!” Alfred was saying, and Arthur giggled again, agreeing.

“Thank you, Alfred. This helps me a lot. I’m glad… I can count on you for this.” he said, and he meant every word.


	8. Heat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello!! there we go again!  
> I'd like to thank you guys for the support and lovely comments! THANK YOU!!  
> I also want to thank Mayumi Sato for proofreading this chapter for me!! thank u my friend <3 
> 
> ALSO, this chapter will approach it, but just a small reminder that in this au heats occur every six months! :3 
> 
> i was kinda insecure about this chapter, so more than ever i'll love to hear what you guys thought about it!! ;;

According to Arthur’s calculations, his heat should start Friday. 

By Wednesday, he already could notice some of the symptoms getting stronger, like lack of appetite, headache, trouble concentrating in his work, alphas turning their heads when he passed, most times even suggesting things that Arthur wanted to curse at them for… 

He didn’t like to be outside when his heat was near. He always felt huge waves of fear, insecurity and self awareness pushing him down, as if everyone was looking at him, judging or thinking awful things to do to him or about him. He was glad his workplace granted omegas two weeks off for heats, which granted him the peace of leaving work Wednesday to only go back when his heat had long passed and he was feeling better.  

Since Amelia disliked his scent when his heat was near, Arthur asked Alfred if he could pick Amelia Wednesday evening. It pained him to send her away so soon, but he knew she didn’t like his “funny” smell, and that he wouldn’t be able to look after her if his heat started sooner than usual. It was better to be safe than sorry. 

Alfred showed up around 7 o’clock with a big smile on his lips. His smile fell, however, as soon as Arthur opened the door. Their eyes met for only a second and Arthur tried to offer him a small, awkward smile, but soon gave up. Alfred was smelling really, really good and it was physically hard for Arthur to keep his feet where they stood. Something similar must have been happening to Alfred as well, because he stepped back and looked around, his eyes avoiding Arthur’s. 

“Hi…” Arthur said, tightening the grip of the scarf on his neck. His body temperature was rather high, actually, but he wanted to cover himself in order to avoid his scent to get to Alfred too much. He could already see how they were affecting Alfred, making his pheromones agitated and stronger. Just looking at him was making Arthur’s heart race and his mouth dry. “Amelia, dear, Alfred is here!” he called, and then walked away from the door, leaving it open as he went to pick up the suitcase with his daughter’s clothings and other belongings. 

Amelia replied, “Coming!” from her room. 

“I, hn… put a list of recommendations in the suitcase. Bedtime, food and medical allergies, blood type and other things like that. There’s also the number of her pediatrician in there, if something happens… and” 

“Hey,” Alfred interrupted him with a smile, “It’s ok. She’s gonna be fine. Matt and I are gonna take good care of her. Right, Amelia?” he added the last part when he saw the little girl approaching. She held Arthur’s hand and giggled when Alfred patted her hair playfully. 

Arthur sighed, getting on his knees to be on the same height as Amelia and touched her shoulder. 

“Remember what we talked about, dear?” he asked.

“Yes. Always do my homework, always brush my teeth after eating, always obey Alfred, never fight with Matthew, always…” Amelia recited, and Alfred couldn’t stop himself,

“Oh, wow, how many things did you make her memorize?” 

“Just the basics” Arthur replied, smiling to Amelia when she finished, “Great, dear. I’ll take you to watch a movie and eat popcorn with chocolate when you’re back, ok?”

“Ok!” Amelia answered happily, and hugged Arthur very, very tightly, her small hands holding to his sweater as if he’d push her away. Instead he hugged her back, pulling her from the ground on a big bear hug. She laughed, “Lemme go, lemme go!” and after kissing her forehead, he finally did.

“Well… let’s go, then?” Alfred suggested, scratching at the back of his head. 

Amelia nodded, but then stopped and shouted, “I forgot Mr. Freckles!” 

“Go get him, then.” Arthur urged, Amelia running to her room right after, her pink and blue backpack shaking behind her. Arthur turned to Alfred and explained, to avoid the silence and trying not to give room for questions or statements he did not want to deal with, “It’s the teddy bear.” 

“Oh.” Alfred nodded. Arthur thought the conversation was over there, but Alfred quick added, “So… uh, are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m alright. Just kinda… you know.” he shrugged, pressing his hand against his scarf. 

“No? What?” Alfred replied, a look of confusion on his face that Arthur couldn’t help but find cute. 

Arthur wondered how it was possible for an alpha with such a strong scent be  _ so _ oblivious to those things. He then wondered if Alfred had  _ always _ had that strong scent or if it was his heat talking. He wasn’t sure. He couldn’t remember what Alfred smelled like before, just what he smelled now. And now he smelled very, very good. It was intoxicating. He replied with an eyeroll, trying not to give in too much of what he was feeling and thinking,

“Well,  _ you know _ , my heat. And you’re an alpha so you’re pheromones are  _ everywhere? _ ”

“Oh,” Alfred said. And  _ blushed _ . It was the cutest thing. “It’s not  _ my _ fault though.” 

“Of course not.” Arthur rolled his eyes again, looking back to see if Amelia was coming. There was a brief, tense silence before Alfred added,

“Do… you need anything? For your heat.” 

“No, I’m good.” Arthur replied without looking back. He visibly relaxed a bit when Amelia showed up in the hallway with her pink teddy bear in hand, smiling brightly. 

“He was under the pillows” Amelia explained while Arthur fixed her ponytail, 

“Alright, dear. I see you in five days, ok? I’ll miss you so much…” he said, giving her a final hug and receiving a kiss on the cheek that melted his heart. 

“Take care, daddy.” she said, and Alfred repeated it,

“Take care, Arthur. Don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything. Like,  _ anything _ .” Arthur thought that a wink should follow these words, but none did. He was only partly glad. 

He waited by the doorframe until the elevator came and went, and then sighed, closing and locking the door behind him. 

* * *

 

 

According to Arthur’s calculations, his heat should start Friday, but instead it started Thursday afternoon. He would have felt relief for not having Amelia around if he wasn’t already overwhelmed by other things.

He was used to being alone during his heats, but experience didn’t make things easier in this case. Arthur couldn’t remember when exactly, but it had been around two years now that his heat had stopped being pleasant. Now they were almost like torture and a bunch of things contributed to it. 

Omegas had a hard time being rational during heats. Being alone during one always brought feelings of loneliness, and Arthur was used to it… kind of. He always avoided thinking too much about that aspect of his life, but it was impossible to avoid it at those times. All the feelings he had carefully packed in the darkest corner of his heart would be spread all around the place against his will, making him think of his life, of his crushed dreams, his family… and now, also of Alfred.

It made him cry. He never really learned how to deal with how lonely he was in a healthy way. He had learned how to pretend, yes, but only that. He was an expert at pretending he was a lone wolf sort of guy, someone who didn’t need anybody else in his life. Hell with his family. Who cared about them? Who felt sad thinking they didn’t like or want him around? Certainly not Arthur. Certainly… And now there was also Alfred, smiling, sweet Alfred. Did he even  _ like  _ Arthur? Or was he only staying around because of the hope of sex? Would he stay after it, or would he leave afterwards and never look back? Should Arthur give him a chance or keep pretending that he was doing fine on his own? 

Arthur knew, deep down, that none of those thoughts made much sense, but he didn’t have strength to push them away. He  _ was _ lonely. And his body was too hot, too horny, too needy to listen to him.

He caught himself reaching for his phone and dialing Alfred’s number more than a few times. Eventually, when he was feeling a bit more lucid, he dragged himself to the kitchen and hid his phone there. He  _ couldn’t _ have Alfred coming. That would be a disaster. 

Besides these psychological aspects, there were the even worse physical ones.  

Ordinarily, a small discomfort would install itself in an omega’s body around the second day of heat if their cravings for sex and mating were not attended. It was normal and dealable. For some reason Arthur couldn’t grasp,  _ his _ discomfort was much more than a  _ discomfort _ . It was  _ pain _ , and it was constant, and it  _ hurt.  _

He had been feeling more than just discomfort for his last three heats, actually, but he didn’t think too much of it. He thought it was normal, and that there was nothing he could do about it. And because he thought it was normal, he decided not to talk about this with his doctor. He hated having to hear his  _ suggestions _ , so he always made their appointments go the fastest they could go.

But now the pain was much greater, and Arthur didn’t know what to do. He took the couple of painkillers he had at home during the first day, and then… he didn’t have anything else to take. It was not like he could go out and buy more. So all he could do was turn and curl up on himself and cry. 

He could also sleep. So he was trying to do that a lot, which was not easy. 

For years, his heat routine was very simple. He’d use some toys, take a pill to sleep for a long period of time, use his toys again, force himself to eat a bit or at least drink some water, all of which were placed in bottles and plastic pots near his nest, then sleep more. However, he was taking those sleeping pills for too long now, and his body was developing a resistance of them. Which meant he had to take two pills to have the effect that one should have, and doing so with an empty stomach was making him sick. 

In summary… Arthur felt awful. He felt awful, depressed and in pain. He just wanted it to be over. He just wanted the hours to pass faster, but the more he wished for it, the slower they passed. 

And while the minutes lasted hours and the hours lasted days, Arthur kept thinking about how much the hated being on heat, he hated having to hear his doctor telling him he should look for someone to be with him, and he  _ mostly  _ hated how expensive it was to skip heats. Every time his heat came in these past two years he’d swear to himself he’d save a little less and buy medications to skip it. But then those four days would pass, he’d get better and would convince himself that the heat  _ wasn’t _ so bad after all, and remind himself that the most important thing was to provide Amelia with a good education and to save for her college. And six months would pass and everything would happen again in an eternal loop. 

* * *

 

 

When Arthur woke up on the morning of the fourth day and his heat had passed, he cried in relief. His belly and groin were still aching, but much less. Arthur just layed there for a couple of hours, too tired to do anything else. 

Eventually, when he started to feel hungry, he decided it was time to get up and take a shower. He was feeling dirty and a hot shower would also help him relax. 

And so he did. He went for a long and relaxing hot shower. His legs still felt wobbly and weak and he had to take a stool with him, just in case, but it was totally worth it. Feeling much better, he put on some comfortable clothes. 

He looked at himself in the mirror after he was done, and sighed. He  _ looked  _ awful. He had huge, dark circles under his eyes, which were reddish from lack of sleep. His skin was much paler than usual and not as soft. His cheekbones were more prominent, too, which meant he had lost some weight. 

He was hungry, but he still didn’t feel strong enough to cook, so he simply heated some noodles to eat while watching TV. He rested for a couple hours, and then started cleaning. 

He put all of his dirty clothes, blankets, sheets, pillows and pillow cases in a large plastic bag and put it aside. He called his usual laundry and they said they’d pass there the following day. 

After that he focused on minor tasks, like making his bed, spraying the room with an environment aromatizer to clean off a bit of his scent, washing the dishes and things like that. Then, finally, he sat down and called Alfred, asking him to bring Amelia home. 

“Your heat ended, then?” Alfred asked. 

“Yep. How is she?” Arthur decided to check, 

“She’s great! She misses you, thought. She had a nightmare last night…” 

“Please, bring her home as soon as you can.” Arthur asked. He missed Amelia, too. 

“Of course! See ya soon, Arthur!” 

Arthur hang up with a small smile hanging on his lips. His heat had passed, Amelia would be home soon. Everything was alright now. They’d sleep early and well, and in the next day Arthur would be feeling good again. And that would be all. 

Arthur planned to go cook something for dinner, but he was feeling too tired for that, and instead curled up on his couch and watched the news to pass the time. Maybe he could order something later. Yeah, that sounded good. Ordering something to eat once in a while wouldn’t hurt his pocket. 

He fell asleep watching the news and woke up to the sound of his doorbell. 

“Coming!” he said, putting the blanket aside and rubbing his eyes while getting up. He opened the door to a smiling Alfred and a smiling even brighter Amelia. 

“Daddy!” Amelia shouted happily. 

“Hello, sweetheart!” Arthur replied, trying to ignore how weak his legs felt. 

He didn’t need to it for long, though, because seconds later Alfred was saying, 

“Arthur! You ok?!” 

And he was replying, 

“Yeah? I’m fine…” 

And then there was darkness and nothing else. 


	9. Hospital

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone!! first of all, thANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE NICE COMMENTS??? I LITERALLY CRIED??? I was anxious about this last chapter and you guys made me feel really better so thank u… <3 ur the best.   
> I hope you like this chapter, too!!   
> I'm gonna do my best to keep updating this often, but… my classes start this monday,, ,. . . and I also have an internship now??… soo… u know, life might get in the way… . I'll do my best tho! plz dont give up of me, . . <3

Arthur woke up to muffled sounds. He wasn’t sure what they were at first, but slowly he regained awareness of his surroundings. He noticed he was lying down on his couch. He noticed that the TV was still on, and besides the guy talking about the weather, there was also crying. 

Crying. He knew that voice, he noticed. He blinked his eyes lazily and looked around, his eyes seeing shapes and then those shapes gained details and Arthur managed to see what they were. 

One of the shapes was Amelia.  _ She _ was crying. Arthur felt his chest tightening and he changed to a sitting position. His body was aching and he felt cold, but he tried to ignore it for the moment. 

“Amelia…” he said with a quiet voice, smiling to her, “Sweetheart, hey…” 

Amelia ran to him as soon as she noticed he was awake, and hugged him tightly, still crying, 

“Papa! Papa, you okay?!” 

“Yeah, I… I’m okay. I’m sorry I scared you, darling.” Arthur replied with a guilty smile on his face. Amelia didn’t see it, face buried on his shoulder. She was sobbing and Arthur felt like he was being stabbed or  as if he was stabbing himself. He felt guilty, even though he didn’t feel like there was anything he could have done to prevent what had happened. Yes, he was tired. Yes, he should have eaten something more nutritious. Still… something like that had never happened before. It was strange, and Amelia’s sobs were making he feel a little bit scared, too. 

“You were about to fall…” Amelia was saying, “but uncle Al held you so you didn’t fall and then he put you on the couch… we were so scared, papa! Never do that again!” 

Arthur ran his shaky fingers on her hair, “I promise. I’ll never scare you like that again. I’m sorry.” 

Amelia sniffed and stopped crying, but did not let go. Arthur didn’t complain. He loved his daughter and he loved to hug her. And also… he was cold. Her warmness was more than welcome. 

His eyes drifted from Amelia’s hair to the figure standing awkwardly a few steps ahead. 

Alfred. 

He wasn’t quite smiling while watching them, but he started to when his eyes met Arthur’s. With his hands on his jacket pockets, he sighed, smile still on. 

“Dude… What a scare.” he said.

“Sorry.” Arthur offered, but Alfred shook his head, 

“No, I mean… that’s cool. Just… are you  _ ok? _ ” Alfred asked, approaching the couch. Arthur nodded, but Alfred simply, casually… leaned forward and put his hand on Arthur’s forehead as if this was something he was used to. As if it was part of their routine, “You have a fever.” he pointed, letting his hand on Arthur’s forehead for a bit more than was necessary. 

“I’ll take some painkillers and it will go away.” Arthur comforted him, “Tomorrow I—”

“Uncle Al said that if you had a fever when you woke up we should take you to the hospital.” Amelia explained, letting go of the hug to look Arthur in the eye,

Arthur blinked, then tried to smile, “I understand you’re worried, honey, but tomorrow…” 

“No, we should go today! I don’t want anything to happen to you!” Amelia said, determined. 

She was so small and such a sweet kid, but… in moments like that, Arthur was remembered that she was indeed an alpha. Her scent was still faint, but it always became more vivid when she was determined or angry. 

“Your smell is worrying me, by the way.” Alfred said, “I can sense you’re sick and in distress… It won’t hurt to go see a doctor. I’ll take you there and take care of Amelia.”

“... but it might take a while. And you have to work tomorrow. The most logical solution here is to—”

“...let my boss know I won’t be showing up tomorrow because of  _ personal issues _ . He’ll understand. Also, I’ve worked some extra hours before and I can take an one day break. Don’t worry.” Alfred smiled and,  _ god _ , Arthur thought,  _ he had such a gorgeous smile…  _

Arthur then wondered if he was still under his heat’s effects. 

“I… Still, I think I should…”, Arthur started, but was cut again, 

“Amelia, do you know where your dad keeps his wallet?” Alfred asked, and Amelia quickly said yes, “Good. Can you get it for us? Take one of your toys, too, so you have something to do while we wait, ok? I’ll get your dad’s coat and the coloring book I got you and we’ll leave, ok?”

“Okay!” Amelia smiled, leaving to Arthur’s room. 

Arthur couldn’t help but pout. Discreetly, of course. What else could he do when he was being overwhelmed by irritated and flattered feelings for having two alphas ignoring his speech and taking measurements to ensure his safety? 

He wanted to be heard and, at the same time, he was feeling so… relaxed knowing there was someone looking out for him. It was so pleasing to be able to rest his head against the couch and close his eyes for a moment, knowing that the world wouldn’t fall apart if he just… rested, instead of running around trying to do anything alone while his body ached and he felt like crap… 

He sighed and even smiled a bit when Alfred stepped closer and lightly touched his cheek in such a delicate caress that made Arthur feel like he was about to melt.  

“I’m gonna take care of you.” he heard Alfred say, but he wasn’t sure if it was real or not. 

He felt heavy and sleepy. 

He was also not sure if he was dreaming or not when Alfred helped him put on his coat and scarf and then… picked him up so easily, like Arthur weighed nothing, and Arthur rested his head against Alfred’s shoulder and took a deep, deep breath because Alfred smelled so, so good… 

Arthur liked to think it was just a dream because moments later, they were riding on a flying train and there were unicorns flying on the outside. 

Or maybe he just fell asleep before they got to the car. He wasn’t sure. He didn’t want to deal with how good Alfred was making he feel, so he decided it was just a meaningless dream. It was easier that way.

 

* * *

 

 

Arthur sighed, watching the intravenous drip with impatience. Apparently he was dehydrated and lacking a bunch of vitamins. Nothing new there, he thought with himself. His heat had just ended, so of course he wasn’t in his best shape. According to a recent blood exam in comparison with previous exams, though, it seemed this heat effects had been worse on his health than the previous ones and he needed to stay the night in the hospital. 

“When did you take my blood…?” he asked his doctor with a frown. 

“When you arrived. Your, uh… friend?” his doctor raised his eyebrows with a weird smile, “authorized me to.” 

… So his doctor had talked to Alfred before Arthur woke up and used his “ _ authorization _ ” to start collecting blood for exams.  _ Authorization! _

They weren’t at all related. But Alfred was an alpha. Of course they’d believe anything an alpha said. 

“We’re not… you should have waited to talk to  _ me _ .” Arthur answered. 

“Ah, please.” the doctor rolled his eyes. “He came in with you on his arms and your daughter at his side, and he even asked for  _ me _ . He clearly knows you.”

“I never… mentioned your name to him…?”

“Alright, your daughter asked me if was ‘doctor Francis’, but it doesn’t change the fact that he seemed to know you and had the best interests in mind.” the doctor continued, “But this is not important. What is important is… and I ask this as your doctor… if you have an alpha like  _ that _ , why did you spent this heat  _ alone? _ ” 

Arthur may have blushed. 

“We’re friends. I mean, I barely know him. And you know my reasons.” Arthur said. He didn’t want to talk about this. Francis was always talking about how much Arthur  _ needed _ to find a partner. About how much Arthur should find one soon, move on. Build something with someone. 

Arthur hated that. 

He hated how Francis always talked about how  _ he  _ moved on after his mate left him, about how much he suffered because of his mark and about how good he was now. Arthur hated to hear that because Francis made it sound like it was all too easy, as if Arthur was holding on to something that was  _ wrong  _ and had no reason to be. As if Arthur should just magically  _ find  _ a “special someone” who would, in a blink, solve all his problems and make him get past his sorrow and feelings and pain and and crushed dreams. 

“Alright, it was just a question.” Francis sighed, putting his hands up in defeat. He then looked at Arthur’s medical records in his tablet, “Well, I’m gonna go schedule your routine tests so you can leave tomorrow morning.”

“Wait.” Arthur said, and then regretted it. 

Francis looked at him, “Yes?”

He hesitated. He didn’t want to talk about it, but yet… he knew he must. Arthur sighed, 

“About my heat… it wasn’t… uh, normal. It  _ hurt _ . A lot. And… I’m sure it’s not supposed to happen.” 

Francis stared at him for a few seconds, 

“For how long has this been happening?”

“... For a few heats. It was nothing much, before. It hurt a bit and made me feel uneasy, just a bit more than a discomfort, you know? But nothing I couldn’t deal with. This time, though…” 

“Hm.” Francis said, typing something into Arthur’s records, “Well, Arthur…” he said without looking up, “I have an idea of what might be happening, and I’ll ask for a few more tests just to be sure, but… I’m certain you won’t like it.” 

“Wait, you think this is something serious…?” Arthur asked anxiously. 

“Well, Arthur, you’re an omega. Despite you liking it or not, your body needs some hormones that you can only get by having a partner during your heats. When I tell you that you need to find someone to have sex with, I’m not saying so to annoy you. Most times, at least. I’m saying it because your body needs it to produce these hormones. You see? You haven’t had sex in what, six years?” 

“Seven.”

“ _ Seven _ . Yes, there you go. You’re severely lacking these hormones and although they aren’t necessary for your  _ survival _ , they are necessary to keep your reproductive organs running, so to speak. It’s something like… putting oil in the gears, you know? Your organs are rusty. And if you don’t oil them soon, there might be complications.” Francis explained. Noticing the worried expression on Arthur’s face, however, he smiled, “For now, let’s not worry about what might happen in the future. We’re going to run some tests and see how you are. I don’t think anything severe has happened to your body, otherwise we’d already know” he said, and laughed. Something about it made Arthur flinch. 

“So… the solution is…” 

“To have sex, yes.” Francis nodded, “Or you could take some experimental medicine and risk getting a cancer? Your call.” 

Arthur groaned. 

 

* * *

 

 

At Arthur’s request, Francis went to the waiting room to inform Arthur’s “friend” that he could come in. 

There were some other people there, but Francis recognized the man easily. he was on his knees beside Arthur’s daughter, and they were looking at a book on the coffee table. They looked adorable. 

As he got closer and caught the man’s attention, he quickly got up. The little girl did, too. 

She asked, 

“How’s my daddy?”

“He’s alright.” Francis smiled, “He just needs to stay here tonight to rest, but then he can go home.” the little girl smiled and nodded, so Francis moved his eyes to the man. He had an… interesting and charismatic scent. He was also very handsome. Lucky Kirkland, he thought, “He wants to talk to you, so you two are allowed to go to his room. It’s room 223.”

“Okay. Great. Uh.” the alpha said, and turned to the little girl, “Hey, Amelia, can you gather your stuff while I talk to doctor Francis?” she agreed and he turned to Francis again, “How is he?”

“He’s tired and dehydrated, but he’ll be fine. We’re gonna run some tests tonight and hopefully he’ll be going home tomorrow morning.” Francis answered.

“ _ Hopefully? _ ” the alpha asked, frowning, “How so? Did something happen? is he  _ really _ alright?  _ Tell _ me.” his imposing tone made Francis gulp and look away, and he once again wondered why Kirkland had spent his heat alone. Arthur could say he “barely knew” this alpha, but the alpha  _ clearly _ didn’t think the same thing about Arthur. He was behaving towards Arthur like a mate would. 

Francis felt like he’d get really  _ angry _ if he didn’t tell him what he wanted to know. 

“Alright, alright. He’s lost more weight than usual and is lacking some vitamins. We’re taking care of that. He has spent his past fourteen heats alone, though, and it’s starting to be… damaging to his body. His heats are getting further from an ‘alpha’s erotic dream’ and closer to pure discomfort and pain.”

“ _ Pain? _ What? Why?!”

“Some hormones he needs are in pretty low levels.” Francis kept talking, “I could go on and on but in short… he needs to have sex. That will help him produce these hormones he’s lacking and make his future heats better.”

“Oh.” the alpha said quietly. “So should I…?”

“He’s stubborn, so good luck!” Francis smiled, “I need to go now. His room is 223.” he said, walking away. 

The temporary puzzled expression on the alpha’s face turned into a determined expression as he called Arthur’s daughter and they walked down the corridor. 

Francis hoped Arthur wouldn’t hate him too much. He also thought, once again, that Arthur was very lucky. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this very clear image of Alfred carrying Arthur on his arms like a princess… so precious and so pure… dfghjah i wish i could draw,,  
> anywaaay…   
> if you guys haven't seen this yet, @Mayumi Sato and i are organizing this usuk event to gather people to write and draw more usuk and you guys should tots check it out! ;3 usukustwiceperyear.tumblr.com
> 
> cya soon!


	10. Agreement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soooo.... hello! I've been busy and actually... I'm still busy but I took today to write this chapter because, man, I missed writing this fic :') 
> 
> Thank you guys a lot for all of the comments and kudos. You're the best <3  
> I hope I can update this again soon, but I can't promise anything because of classes and work and all hhh
> 
> Anyway! I hope you guys like this chapter!!! I loved writing it!

It had been hard to convince Amelia to go sleep one more night at Alfred’s place. She argued and cried saying she did not want to leave Arthur alone in the hospital, and Arthur had to argue back and explain over and over again that a hospital was no place for healthy children. He promised he’d be alright and fine by the next day.

“By the time you get home from school tomorrow,” he said, “I’ll be already there. I’ll bake a cake for you.” 

“A carrot cake?” Amelia asked, suspicious. 

“With chocolate icing.” Arthur nodded.

Amelia nodded too, finally convinced. 

“Thank you, Alfred.” Arthur said to Alfred as he helped Amelia put on her backpack.

“Yeah, no problem.” Alfred smiled. Arthur thought he seemed a bit… uneasy? But he wasn’t sure. Maybe he was just too tired, he told himself. So he just said goodbye to Amelia and waved to her and Alfred. Once they left, he sighed, sinking his head on the not-that-comfortable pillow. A few moments later he was asleep. 

When he woke up his throat was dry and he mumbled to himself as he rubbed his eyes. 

“Ah, good morning!” said a voice next to him, and Arthur quickly opened his eyes, confused and lost to find Alfred sitting there, on one of the armchairs next to his bed. He was wearing the same clothes as the day before, his hair all messy and his expression tired. 

“W-what…? What are you…” Arthur tried to say, but Alfred just shrugged it off, 

“Do you need anything? Water?” Alfred asked instead of replying. 

“Did something happen to Amelia?” Arthur asked, but he knew it was not the case. He watched as Alfred retrieved a bottle of water from the other armchair and then opened it as he walked towards him, offering the water. Arthur took it because he was indeed very thirsty, but he did not thank Alfred, he asked: “What are you doing here?”

“Uh, keeping you company?”

“Why?” 

Alfred blushed and it was so sudden and unexpected that Arthur blushed a bit, too. 

“No reason,” Alfred said, laughing as if the situation was funny, “We’re friends. I’d hate to be alone in a hospital, so I figured… Maybe it’d be best to come stay with you. In case you hated it too.” 

Arthur stared at him, not knowing what to say. What could he say? Alfred  _ was _ his friend, wasn’t him? He was an alpha, but Arthur had already came in terms with being his friend. Perhaps… Arthur thought, his motivations were only friendly. 

“You don’t need to be so suspicious of me.” Alfred said then, a bit hurt, and Arthur almost apologized, but instead he huffed, 

“Stop trying to figure out what I’m thinking by smelling me, that’s… intrusive!” 

Alfred looked hurt at that, and Arthur almost felt guilty. Almost. He had no reason to feel guilty, he wasn’t doing anything wrong and it  _ was _ intrusive of Alfred to read his emotions like that when they weren’t mates or even dating. 

“Sorry, I just…” Alfred started, but something in his voice hinted that he wanted to talk about something that Arthur did not, so he laid down on his side, back to Alfred, and mumbled, 

“I’m going to sleep a bit more. Wake me up when the doctor comes, please.”

“Yeah, sure.” Alfred said, and then there was silence. But it was tense and it didn’t let Arthur sleep.

 

* * *

 

Francis came by a couple of hours later, informing that Arthur was free to go. 

“I’d like to discuss your tests results in detail with you, but I’m busy today. Call my office to schedule an appointment so we can talk.” Francis said, “I can tell you now that your last heat didn’t do any permanent damage, which is good, but I want you to take these pills for a couple of weeks.” he handed a prescription to Arthur, who nodded. 

“Thanks. I’ll try to get an appointment as soon as possible.” Arthur said, glancing at Alfred and seeing him typing something on his phone. He seemed tense and Arthur quickly figured he was just pretending to type and listening to his conversation with the doctor. 

“I’ll tell my secretary to leave a gap for you for next week, is that alright?” Arthur nodded, “Ok then, I see you later. Don’t forget  what I said about you having sex. It’s important for your health.” he said, and Arthur noticed how Alfred looked up from his phone. Francis definitely noted it, too, because he winked before leaving. 

For a couple seconds, Arthur wanted to kill him. 

After he left, a nurse came in to release Arthur from the intravenous drip. She handed him his clothes as he sat down and asked him to sign on her tablet, and after that she left. 

Alfred got up, then: 

“I’ll wait in the hall, while you change and stuff.” he said, already at the door. Arthur muttered a thanks, glad for not having to ask Alfred to leave. 

Once he was dressed up he folded the hospital clothes, put them on the bed and left. Alfred was waiting on the hall. He smiled, 

“Hey, so… it’s almost noon, so I was thinking, do you want to go eat something? There’s a restaurant right in front of the hospital. It doesn’t look expensive, and I can pay.” 

The invitation was tempting and Arthur was a bit hungry, but…

“Hn, no… I’d rather go home. I really want to take a shower and get rid of this hospital smell.” 

“Please!” Alfred insisted, “You need to eat. We eat, I drive you home and then I leave you alone. If we don’t go eat I’ll go to your place and help you cook something and I’ll not leave until you’ve eaten.” 

Arthur sighed. 

“Ok, fine, we can go eat.”

“Yay!” Alfred smiled, and it was so pure and cute that Arthur’s heart beated a bit faster.

 

* * *

They went to eat at the restaurant in front of the hospital, and it was… tense. Arthur couldn’t tell why. They ordered food - Arthur asked for the special because it had a bunch of vegetables in it and Alfred asked for beef and fries and they sat there in silence while waiting for the food because Arthur didn’t know what to say and wasn’t much in the mood to talk, really, and Alfred wasn’t talking either, but Arthur didn’t know why. He seemed worried, tense, thinking about something important, browsing on his phone to try to hide it. Arthur thought about asking but decided it was better not to. 

The food came, they ate. 

When they finished eating, Alfred insisted to pay for the meal, and Arthur let him because he wanted to go home soon. 

So they walked to Alfred’s car, parked a couple blocks from there. Arthur got in and put the seat belt on, Alfred did the same. He waited for Alfred to turn on the ignition, but he did not. Instead he sighed. He looked ahead, fingers drumming on the wheel. Then he sighed again and finally looked to Arthur, 

“I… want to talk to you about something.” he said. 

Arthur felt his hands get cold. Oh, shit. 

“Yeah?” he said, in the most casual tone he could master. 

“Yeah, like… uh, yesterday your doctor told me about the thing…” he sighed again. Arthur knew where it was going and he wanted to stop it right there, but he just… couldn’t bring himself to say it, “He told me that you need to, like, sleep with someone and stuff… so I…” 

“You don’t need to do it.” Arthur said then, interrupting Alfred, “I know what you’re proposing and you don’t need to. I…”

“No, but I want to help!” Alfred said quickly, “I really want to help you.” 

“You mean you really want to have sex with me?” Arthur said, staring at Alfred and watching as his expression got hurt and then serious and determined again, 

“No, I mean… well,  _ yes _ , kinda, but mostly I just want to help you out.”

“How convenient.” Arthur said, rolling his eyes. The worst part was that… he believed Alfred. But he didn’t want to let it show. He’d rather pretend he was just offended. He didn’t… 

“Look, Arthur, I’m ok with just being your friend. One hundred percent okay. But if you have to have sex with someone, I just… I mean, you’re my  _ omega _ , so… Ah. I mean…  _ friend. _ I definitely meant friend. Sorry. I’m sorry.” Alfred said, and his face was so red and he was so tense, staring at Arthur with anxiousness and fear that he had said something unforgivable and Arthur just…

He honestly didn’t want to have that conversation. He was tired and he wanted to go home, shower and bake that cake he had promised his daughter and then rest. He had avoided that for as long as he could and now… He couldn’t. One way or another, he had to say something. He could get out of the car and yell at Alfred and tell him to never show up again and say that Alfred was just using the moment to get what he wanted and that it was wrong and sick. 

Or he could be honest. 

He could acknowledge that Alfred was tense and nervous and that he wasn’t being a creepy asshole but rather a very nervous and anxious guy who was very bad at expressing himself with words in that kind of situation. 

Arthur sighed, looking at his hands on his lap.

He was tired. 

He didn’t want to fight. 

He… liked Alfred. He wanted to have Alfred in his life. 

He just…  

“I… I’m not stupid, Alfred.” he said then, avoiding Alfred’s gaze, “I know what you mean. I just… I don’t think it’s a good idea. What you’re proposing… I don’t think it’s a good idea.” 

“But…” Alfred started, but Arthur shook his head, 

“Maybe… maybe we should stop seeing each other for a while…?” Arthur suggested, incertain, and Alfred was very quick to answer: 

“No!” he shouted, “No, I don’t want to stop seeing you!” and then he grunted, “Really, Arthur, if you know, then… let me take care of you. Please. I care a lot about you and I just…” he looked down for a second, and his next question caught Arthur off guard, “Are… are you afraid I’ll leave you afterwards?”

Arthur opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, shifting on his seat. 

“I’m afraid of a lot of things.” he said quietly. 

Alfred nodded and for a few seconds there was just the two of them in the entire world. They looked at each other in the eye in silence and for the briefest of moments Arthur wished Alfred would kiss him. 

Then a car honked somewhere near and the moment was gone and Arthur looked to the other side. 

“You know…” Alfred says, “I’m not going anywhere. And if you’re scared of getting into something with me, then… we could just do it casually, you know. No feelings or anything. Just so you don’t do it with a total stranger. You can make rules and all.” he proposed. 

Arthur hesitated. He thought about saying that even that was already something, but he did not. He realized that it was already too late: no matter what, the odds were he was going to get hurt. He could get just a little bit hurt or he could get a scar and take ages to recover. He could shut Alfred out right now or he could do it after he took what he needed. No matter what, it would hurt because he liked Alfred. He could deny it or avoid it, but it was true. 

He liked Alfred. 

“I… I’ll think about it.” he said finally. 

“Ok. Ok, cool.” Alfred said, and he seemed excited and happy about it. 

“Can you take me home now?” 

“Yes, sure! Sure thing, Arthur. Thank you. For thinking about it, I mean. I’ll give you space and all to think. Tell me when you decide. I’ll be ok with anything you decide.” Alfred started the car, babbling on.

Arthur let him talk, nodding here and there, his eyes watching lazily the buildings and cars and people while his heart raced in his chest. 

* * *

 

 

It was hard for Arthur to decide. 

Many times that week he asked himself,  _ do I want this? _

And many times that week he answered himself:  _  I don’t know _ . 

He did not know. He was afraid to get hurt even though he knew he would get hurt no matter what. He was afraid to do something with Alfred and then lose the friendship they had. He was also afraid of not doing anything with Alfred and losing their friendship anyway. He was afraid of falling in love and he was afraid of being let down. 

He was afraid of things going well, too, because then he wouldn’t know what to do and he most certainly would fuck it up and end up alone and sad anyway. 

He wished he had someone to talk to about it. 

At work he had some people he was getting close to, but he didn’t feel comfortable about talking about any of this to any of them. It was too personal. 

There was also Francis, but Arthur didn’t want to talk with  _ him _ . Arthur talked to him about his tests and asked what he wanted and needed to know during their appointment, but he didn’t give him any details about Alfred or their agreement. The smugness on Francis’ face would make Arthur give up for sure. 

“... As I told you before, there’s no permanent damage in your organs or anything. I highly recommend you have someone with you for your next heat, however.” Francis said. Arthur frowned at that. 

“Could I just sleep with someone  _ before _ my heat? And stay alone during it?” Arthur asked. 

Francis blinked, confused. 

“You know, if you’re scared of getting pregnant, I can prescribe contraceptives and, well, you can always sleep with a beta. There’d be a lower chance of pregnancy.” 

Arthur knew that. Francis had told him that before. Many times. He just… he didn’t feel attracted to betas. 

“That’s not what I asked,” he shook his head, “I asked you if I can sleep with someone before my heat, a few times maybe, would that help?” 

Francis hesitated, 

“The chances are low…” he said, “The problem is your  _ heat _ . Perhaps you’d produce some of the hormones even if you’re not on heat, but… I don’t know, Arthur. There isn’t a study about it yet, not that I know of.” he shrugged, “But you can try, I suppose. We have your hormones levels. If you want to test it, you can have sex and then come here for us to take another blood test. If there’s a change in your hormones levels, good. I can even write a paper about it.” he chuckled, “Otherwise, I will prescribe you contraceptives. What do you say?” 

Arthur nodded, 

“Ok, I will… let you know what I decide. I need to think.”

“Sure. Take your time.” Francis smiled, “But honestly, I think-”

“See you, Francis.” Arthur rolled his eyes, gathering his things to leave.

 

* * *

 

Two weeks after he told Alfred he’d think about it, Arthur grabbed his phone and decided to get things over with.

Deep down he knew what he wanted, after all, he was just… scared. 

He texted Alfred because it was easier to text Alfred than to call.

 

**Arthur** : 

I agree. 

 

It took Alfred ten minutes to reply. 

 

**Alfred:**

Agree to what

 

Arthur rolled his eyes, not believing he had just read that. What was so hard to understand? 

 

**Arthur:**

Nevermind. I changed my mind. 

 

Two minutes later, Arthur’s phone buzzed and Alfred’s name was on the screen. Arthur declined the call, his heart racing too much to be able to talk on the phone. 

 

**Arthur:**

I’d rather text.  

 

**Alfred:**

Ok but like im at work so u cant just like tell me u “agree” like im working on a project and im out of coffee so i didnt get it at first ok 

But i get it now n im super happy!!!!! 

 

Arthur watched his phone for a bit while the message “Alfred is typing…” popped up and down a few times after that, and he smiled to himself, picturing Alfred sitting on his desk and typing and deleting a bunch of messages. 

 

**Arthur:**

I have one rule.

 

**Alfred:**

Ok shoot

 

**Arthur:**

No kissing.  

 

Arthur sent the message and then started to hesitate, wondering if that was really the best decision. He decided it was. If he was to fall, he didn’t want to hit rock bottom at once. Alfred was the one to propose they do it casually. So be it. Casually. No kissing. No reason to later be sighing in the corners and wondering when they’re going to kiss again and all that. 

Alfred could most certainly figure out his feelings on his smell anyway, but… Arthur wanted to try and protect them as long as he could. It was the least he could do. He wanted to take his time. 

 

**Arthur:**

Kissing is intimate and since we’ll do it casually, like you said, no kissing. 

 

**Alfred:**

You do realize we’re talking about… sex right… thats very intimate

 

Arthur chuckled a bit at that. 

 

**Arthur:**

Yes, I know. But no kissing. Do you agree or not? 

 

**Alfred:**

Of course i agree! 

 

Arthur took a deep breath and typed his next message. 

 

**Arthur:**

Are you free next Thursday? Amelia has a birthday party-sleepover, so I think it’s a good day. 

 

Alfred replied within seconds.

 

**Alfred:**

Yeah, sure!

just

i thought ud want to do it during ur heat

not like

right now

i dont have a problem with it ofc

just lol 

 

**Arthur:**

No, I’d rather do it now and maybe again closer to my heat, but I want to be alone for the heat itself. I don’t want to take chances. 

 

**Alfred:**

Ok, sure, your call! 

so thursday! 

alright! 

like around eight? 

do u wanna go dinner before??? 

 

**Arthur:**

No. I can cook something. Eight is fine. 

 

**Alfred:**

great, ok!

do you want me to bring something?

idk, wine? 

 

**Arthur:**

No, no alcohol. 

 

Arthur thought for a second, his heart beating ridiculously fast at the realization that they were really going to do it, and then he added: 

 

**Arthur:**

Condoms. Bring those. 

 

**Alfred:**

Ok, condoms, noted. anything else? lube? 

 

**Arthur:**

No, I have that. 

 

**Alfred:**

ok

 

**Arthur:**

Ok. 

See you Thursday.

 

**Alfred:**

cya!!!! 

  
  


And that was it. That was the agreement. It took Arthur two weeks to decide, and it was done. It took him almost the entire week to realize that they were really going to have sex, and it freaked him out. He hadn’t done it in years, and he kept wondering if there were new things he should know about, new rules and what not.  

Many times that week he caught himself searching online for sex related things, his heart racing and his body warming up and his groin making him shift uncomfortably in his chair. 

When the day finally came, he kissed Amelia goodbye and passed her all the recommendations in the world concerning how to behave and what to avoid and to call him if anything happened, and she agreed and hugged him and said she’d be fine. 

Then Arthur cleaned the apartment and changed his sheets and stared at himself in the mirror for a long while, feeling self conscious and weird and anxious and excited all at once and he didn’t know how to deal with it all. 

When early evening came he took a long, relaxing shower and put on comfortable clothes and started to cook dinner. 

Alfred arrived at exactly 8 PM and a small part of Arthur’s brain thought that maybe he had arrived earlier and waited outside for the clock to reach eight and this thought made Arthur smile a bit. 

He opened the door and blinked because Alfred’s face was reddish and he was smiling and holding a box of chocolates wrapped in a cute ribbon and he was wearing jeans but a button-up shirt and a tie and Arthur was just wearing pinkish striped pajamas and had forgotten to take off Amelia’s headband he had put on to keep his bangs off his forehead while he cooked and gosh...

That was awkward. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> stay tuned for awkward smut and dorks being dorky!!!


	11. Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh it's been almost a month...! hello everyone! i'm back! i thank you all again for the support and amazing comments!! your kind words always motivate me to write faster so please don't stop asdfgh!!

 

“Uh, please, come in.” Arthur said to Alfred, moving to the side so he could enter the apartment.

Alfred nodded and walked inside.

As Arthur closed the door, he wanted to curse and run and hide. He was feeling nervous and it made him feel ridiculous because, honestly, he was twenty-five years old (almost twenty-six, actually!) and he had a daughter. He knew how sex worked and he knew Alfred. Why was he feeling so nervous? It was _ridiculous_.

To be honestly with himself... he knew why. It just made him feel even more anxious and ridiculous to admit it, to admit that the reason was because he liked Alfred, and because Alfred was so well-dressed and flushed and tense and Arthur didn’t want to hurt him as much as he didn’t want to hurt himself.

“Thanks, I… I brought chocolate?” Alfred said hesitantly, handing over the chocolate box. He added, “For dessert, I mean. Not like… as a gift. Only if you want it as a gift? I think people don’t usually give each other chocolates when they’re, uh, going to do something casual, but my sister made me bring something anyway, it’s all her fault.” Alfred babbled on, which made Arthur smile a bit.

Alfred was an alpha, and he had a strong scent, and yet… he was so sincere when he was nervous. It was adorable. It was calming.

“It can be a gift _and_ we can eat it as dessert. Thanks, Alfred.”

“No problem.” Alfred smiled, relieved, and followed Arthur to the kitchen, “Nice pajamas by the way.” he commented. Arthur blushed, smiling awkwardly.

“I thought about wearing something _sexy_ , you know, but… turns out I don’t have anything like that.” he walked to the stove to check on their dinner.

“No, it’s ok. Your pajamas are ok. They’re cute. The headband was cute, too.” Alfred answered, sitting at the table and looking around as he unconsciously fidgeted his leg.

“The headband is Amelia’s” Arthur observed, taking a couple of dishes from a cupboard and putting them on the table,

“Yeah, I figured. It had some small flowers and a unicorn in it.” Alfred chuckled.

“Hey, a lot of twenty-somethings wear clothes with flowers and unicorns on it.” Arthur said amusedly.

“Would you wear that for work?” Alfred raised his eyebrows and Arthur shrugged,

“I can’t because I wear a uniform.”

“Alright, fair enough.” Alfred chuckled more, watching Arthur as he moved around to pick cutlery and glasses.

After Arthur set the table he realized something very important: if they ate at the table, they’d be sitting one in front of the other, in silence, and they’d have to talk, which would be… very tense.

“Uh… I was thinking… maybe we could go eat in the living room? And watch something while we eat. A movie, or a TV show? You can pick.”

“You, telling me to pick what we’re gonna watch? Wow. Are you ok?” Alfred said. He had started the sentence as a joke, but there was a hint of worry and uncertainty in his last question.

Arthur nodded,

“Yeah, I’m good. I just thought… we’re going to watch something that I have here, so… you won’t chose something I hate. No matter what, I’m going to like what we’re watching.” he explained,

“So you’re just trying to give me the idea that I’m going to pick something. What’s the point of picking something for us to watch if you’re not gonna be rolling your eyes and making sarcastic remarks?” Alfred laughed, and Arthur laughed at that.

“I can make fake sarcastic remarks.” Arthur suggested.

“Ok, I like that.” Alfred agreed.

Feeling more comfortable, Arthur informed that dinner was ready and that they could eat. Arthur had made spaghetti bolognese because it was easy and quick and he could hardly get that wrong, but looking back… he didn’t think that that had been the best choice for the night.

While they watched some animation movie and ate, Arthur couldn’t stop thinking that not many things in the world could serve as a worst before sex dinner: the sauce was easy to spill and get all around your face and sometimes you needed to suck the pasta to your mouth and all that…  All that was so… non-sexy.

Honestly, maybe they should’ve done it first and _then_ eat. He should’ve thought about this before serving their dishes and eating, Arthur told himself.

“This is really good, man.” Alfred said then, which took Arthur off guard and made him blush.

“Thanks…” Arthur smiled a bit, “Uh… you have sauce on your chin…” he pointed, which made _Alfred_ blush. He looked to the side and used a napkin to clean himself up.

“Sorry!” he said, and Arthur shook his head,

“It’s alright.”

Once they finished eating, they put the dishes aside to finish the movie.

And while they sat there in silence, staring at the television in front of them, Arthur started to grow anxious again. He could smell Alfred’s scent and he could see Alfred was looking at him from time to time and… he didn’t know what to do. Should he lean closer to Alfred and gently touch his thigh? Should he lean against Alfred’s shoulder? Should he kiss Alfred? No, not that last one. He had made the no kissing rule himself.

But it _would_ be easier to start if they could kiss. He could just… look at Alfred and say something stupid and then close his eyes and kiss Alfred and let one thing lead to another. Without kissing.... How would they even…?

“So, uh…” Alfred said suddenly and Arthur gulped. Alfred continued once Arthur was looking at him, “Do you want to…?”

“Ah, yeah, sure, we could go to my room?” Arthur said, pointing in that direction. Alfred agreed and they stared at each other for a few seconds before getting up.

As they walked to Arthur’s room, Arthur thought that nothing could be more awkward than that: walking beside the guy he was going to have sex with while the two of them avoided making any physical contact like accidently brushing their hands together.

But Arthur was wrong.

So many things were worse than that.

Like having Alfred go ahead and sit on his bed while he put some music on his computer.

Or walking towards Alfred and sitting next to him, their legs touching.

“The music is cool.” Alfred said, moving his head lightly according to the music.

“Ah, good. I just looked for a playlist online… I don’t know most of these songs…” Arthur commented, not wanting them to fall silent and get all weird around each other.

“I hope there’s no ads between the songs,” Alfred joked and Arthur chuckled at that, because he had worried about that as well,

“There won’t be, I downloaded the songs so it won’t happen. I’m a criminal now.”

“You’re such an outlaw, Arthur, I’m calling the police.” Alfred laughed,

“Now?”

“Nah, just afterwards. I didn’t get all anxious for this for nothing.” Alfred laughed more, and so did Arthur, but as the laughter became silence they looked at each other briefly, their cheeks getting pink and their hearts beating faster.

The background music, quiet vocals and upbeat instrumentation, filled the room, and Arthur thought about moving his hand towards Alfred’s thigh, but did not. He stopped himself, too anxious and nervous to move.

He really wanted to do that, to have sex with Alfred. He just didn’t know how to start, how to… not get too awkward and ruin everything.

“Uh, so…” he started, which seemed to surprise Alfred, his cheeks getting a darker shade of pink,

“Sorry, I just… you know, it usually starts with kissing, so… I’m thinking. I haven’t, uh… done this lots of times, to be honest… I mean, I _do_ have experience, duh, but… not that much. I hope that’s not a problem…” Alfred said, fast and anxious, and Arthur shook his head,

“It’s alright, Alfred. Don’t worry, I’m not judging you or anything.” Arthur reassured him, and touched his thigh this time. This took Alfred off guard, and he stared at Arthur for a few seconds before smiling.

“So… Can I, like… Can I at least kiss your neck?” Alfred asked then. Arthur blushed.

“Uh… I mean, I… sure? But… no bites that leave a mark or anything… If I find any we’re never doing this ever again.” Arthur answered, still a bit uncertain because yes, yes he did want that, but at the same time… he knew how much his neck was sensitive, and how much Alfred would be inhaling his scent and _knowing_ how much Arthur was liking it and… it’d leave Arthur in such a vulnerable position. And he didn’t know how to feel about this, about being so vulnerable in front of an alpha. Last time he was in this position he got pregnant and with a daughter and alone.

He didn’t say any of this, of course, because if he did he’d be yet _more_ vulnerable _and_ he’d kill the mood that, to be honest, was not that great already.

“Noted.” Alfred said with a bright smile.

He sat a little bit closer to Arthur, looking in his eyes for a moment and then down, to his parted lips and to his neck. Arthur watched expectantly as Alfred got even closer, sighing when Alfred put his hand on his shoulder, his face getting closer and closer until his lips were touching Arthur’s neck lightly. He felt Alfred taking a deep breath with his nose, sniffing Arthur’s scent and all the feelings he had at that moment.

“You smell so good…” Alfred said, his lips touching and parting from Arthur’s skin a few times and making him sigh and close his eyes.

It felt _good_ , but Arthur was so…

“... Are you okay?”

The question was worried and Arthur opened his eyes to find Alfred’s looking at him, worried as his words were. Arthur decided to breath then, which turned out to be not such a good choice, because it made him inhale Alfred’s scent - strong and inviting and warm and _god_ , Arthur wanted to bury himself into it. It also brought back some memories from the last heat he’d spend with someone, which made his desire to be bury in Alfred’s scent fade a little bit.

Alfred touched his cheek, his warm thumb caressing Arthur’s skin.

“You know I can sense your distress signals, right? We don’t…. We don’t need to do this if you don’t want to?” he said, but Arthur shook his head,

“No, I want to do this. I just… just be patient, and it will be alright.” Arthur answered, so Alfred nodded.

“Alright. You’re too tense, so maybe… try to lie down.” Alfred suggested, fluffing the pillows behind Arthur so he’d be more comfortable.

While Arthur didn’t think it’d help, he decided to try it anyway, so he lied down; as he did so Alfred was onto him, gently kissing his neck again. And it was so weird, Arthur thought, it was so weirdly pleasing how his skin was left warm and damp where Alfred had kissed. It was a feeling he thought he’d never feel again.

Arthur sighed, his eyes closed, as Alfred touched his waist and made his way up, feeling Arthur’s torso with needy curiosity.

“... Can I take off your shirt?” Alfred asked in a low whisper that made his voice sound kinda sexy and that was, Arthur realized, the sexiest thing that had happened so far.

He nodded, supporting his body up to take off the shirt. Once it was gone, Alfred’s hand was back, warmer without the cloth between it and Arthur’s skin. It made it’s way from Arthur’s waist to his chest again, and when it touched one of Arthur’s nipple he almost felt turned on. Alfred’s kisses were getting lower as well, and Arthur anticipated he was going to suck on his nipple soon, and he knew it’d feel good, it was supposed to. But he just couldn’t help but stare at the ceiling, trying to turn off whatever it was in him that was making him so anxious.

He wasn’t even in heat. What was all the worry for? Nothing wrong could happen. Nothing he wasn’t ready for. That’s why he’d decided to do it now. And yet…

Arthur asked himself what was wrong with himself, but he didn’t know the answer.

He could feel that Alfred wasn’t too much in the mood, really, how could he be? He could smell Arthur’s scent and he was being bombed with confused signals. It was so unfair to Alfred, to both of them. Arthur wished he could go into auto-pilot and just… answer properly to those stimuli.

He liked Alfred, but _could that night get any worse?_

Arthur’s phone ringed.

The loud, system default ringtone made both of them stop and look at each other, and it was so _painfully_ clear how much they were _both_ relieved to have something end that moment.

Alfred immediately got off Arthur and Arthur got up to pick up his phone.

“Uh, hello?” Arthur said, too awkward too look at Alfred who was puckering his lips and looking around with fake interest.

“Hi, Arthur? I’m sorry, this is Mary…”

“Mary? Is everything alright? Did something happen to Amelia?” Arthur asked immediately, feeling worry filling him.

“No, she’s alright… she just has a low fever and she’s asking for you.”

“I, sure, yes. I’ll be there immediately, I just… tell her I’m on my way, please.” he said hurriedly. He felt the world spinning around him and when he hanged up, a hand, Alfred’s hand was on his shoulder, and Alfred’s worried face was asking him,

“Is everything alright? Did something happen with Amelia…?”

“I… I need to go pick her up…” Arthur explained as he walked to his wardrobe to get a sweater.

“Do you need a ride?” Alfred offered and Arthur wished he didn’t need to accept it.

“Yes, please. I’m sorry, but I really need it.”

“No need to apologize, man.” Alfred smiled to him, squeezing his shoulder and then letting go.

They got to the car in no time, and apart from the directions, they didn’t talk.

Arthur didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what there was to say. It was so weird, so awkward. He was barely managing to look at Alfred’s face.

It was a fifteen minutes ride and it felt like forever - not even the radio music was helping. It was a reminder of their failed night and present silence.

After the last turn before they reached the sleepover place Arthur took a deep breath.

“I’m, I’m so sorry.” he said, looking ahead and then down, “I… don’t know. I just… don’t get me wrong, I…”

“You want to, but you can’t.” Alfred finished, eyes on the road, “I know. I could smell it. Listen, we don’t need to do it, you know? If you can’t. We tried, it didn’t work out.” he sighed, but then smiled a bit, looking at Arthur.

Arthur could smell his frustration.

“We can try again. Later on. If…” he shrugged, “If it doesn’t happen, then… I’ll have to take pills and I’ll need to have someone with me for my heat… if you’re still interested....”

“Of course.” Alfred smiled, “Just don’t think too much about it now.” he suggested, “You’re too stressed. It’s not good for you.”

“Stop smelling what I’m feeling.” Arthur said, but with a soft voice, smiling a bit.

“Can’t help it.” Alfred smiled back, shrugging it off.

“It’s here. The blue house.” Arthur pointed, and Alfred stopped the car. Arthur took off the seat belt and left the car, but looked back inside to add, “Thank you, Alfred. For…”

Alfred shook his head,

“It’s okay, Artie. Go get your daughter. Don’t worry about it now.” he said with a thumbs up and a wink, which made Arthur chuckle and agree.

_Artie_ , he repeated in his head, feeling his cheeks warmer, that was… was a nice nickname. One he could get used to. _Artie_.

Arthur rang the bell and not one minute later Mary was at the door. She was a tall alpha woman with pretty, long curls and kind brown eyes.

“Hi, Arthur! I’m gonna call Amelia. Do you want to…” she was saying, but she didn’t need to finish: Amelia peeked from a room to the left, then came running towards them, hugging Arthur with a tight grip,

“Dad!” she said without letting go, “I wanna go home!”

“Of course, darling. Did something happen?” Arthur asked to be sure, but Amelia shook her head no. Arthur felt her temperature and noticed how she didn’t seem to have a fever at all.

“I left the kids for a few minutes and when I went back they were telling ghost stories…” Mary explained with an apologetic smile.

Arthur smiled as well, taking Amelia in his arms and thanking her for having Amelia over. He made Amelia say goodbye and headed to Alfred’s car, where he put her in the backseat.

“Hi, Alfred.” she said, hugging her backpack.

“Hello, Amelia. Are you sick?” he asked, turning in his seat to face her while Arthur got into the car.

She shook her head,

“I don’t like ghost stories…”

“I don’t like them too.” Alfred said in a low voice and a frown, like he was telling her a secret, “But they can’t hurt you, you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because you can’t touch a ghost, right?” Alfred said, smiling at Arthur for a second as he put his seat belt back on.

Amelia nodded,

“And if you can’t touch them, they can’t touch you either!” Alfred smiled.

“Hm…” Amelia said, thinking about it, “I don’t think that’s how it works…” she decided,

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’m going to take care of you. No ghost is going to hurt you, okay?”

“Okay.” Amelia said with a smile, which made Arthur smile as well.

Arthur realized then that the only person getting hurt by a ghost was himself. He wondered what he could do to get rid of that ghost of the past, that fear, to leave it behind once and for all. He wished there was a recipe for this.

“Dad, why were you with Alfred? Were you in a sleepover too?” Amelia asked, which made Arthur blush.

“Well, yes, we were.” he said, looking at Alfred for a second, and he nodded, agreeing.

“Our sleepover was much cooler than yours.” Alfred told Amelia, “We don’t tell ghost stories.”

“I wish I’d stayed for _your_ sleepover…” Amelia pouted.

“You can join us.” Arthur said, “We can watch a movie together and eat popcorn, what do you think?”

“Can we?!” Amelia asked, excited.

“We can.” Alfred agreed, driving back to Arthur’s apartment.

The drive there was much more comfortable, with Amelia telling them stories and asking them questions.

When they got home, Arthur made popcorn while Amelia picked a movie and helped Alfred bring warm blankets to the living room, where the three of them sat on the couch. Arthur sat between his daughter and Alfred because, as Amelia put it, he was the one who ate less  popcorn, so logically he should be the one holding the popcorn bowl.

Arthur had watched that movie so many times with Amelia that halfway through he was half-asleep. Feeling the more comfortable around Alfred that he had felt that entire evening, he shyly placed his head on Alfred’s shoulder and closed his eyes. He couldn’t help but smile when he felt Alfred kiss his head briefly and gently. He was still smiling when he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOW I SAID SMUT IN LAST CHAPTER'S NOTES BUT HONESTLY, HOW WOULD THAT WORK. THEY ARE TOO AWKWARD. The smut is on its way tho, don't worry! Arthur just needs a bit more of time :^) plz be patient with him (and me). 
> 
> cya you guys soon (i hope)!


	12. Ghost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, everyone!! i thought i'd take longer to post this chapter, but... i was so excited about writing it that i just had to write it as soon as possible aaaa. so here we go! i hope you guys like! please let me know what you think of it! it was one of my fave chapters to write so... knowing what you guys thought would be nice ;w;

 After their failed night, Arthur and Alfred had been talking to each other as usual. Alfred would send a text at least once a day to ask how Arthur was, and Arthur would answer that he was fine and ask how Alfred was. And they’d talk a bit about their jobs, about Amelia, about what Alfred was watching or playing currently, with Alfred telling Arthur that he’d definitely like this or that.

Two weeks after that awfully awkward night, Arthur was thinking that maybe he should message Alfred and ask him over again. Of course, Alfred had been over for Amelia’s and Matthew’s playdates, but they avoided talking about that night or if it would ever happen again, although they were sitting a little bit closer to each other now when watching movies, and looking more at the other when they thought they weren’t being noticed and… and they were hugging each other for hello and goodbye now.

It started the next time Alfred had came over, with Matthew, for the playdate. As soon as Arthur opened the door, Alfred came in and hugged him shortly, but inhaled deeply to smell his scent. It left Arthur a bit confused, but honestly… he did not mind it. It was nice.

When Alfred was leaving that day and hugged him once again, Arthur copied him and inhaled his scent as well, which made Alfred smile happily and Arthur blush shyly.

And they were hugging each other now, every time they met. Of course, they had only seen each other once after that, but… they hugged, and Arthur had everything to believe they’d hug again next time they met, and honestly… Arthur couldn’t stop thinking that he wanted to kiss Alfred as well. To hug him hello and look up and kiss him, to have him hold him close and kiss him back, and…

Yes. Arthur was definitely going to try and schedule something for Alfred to come over and for them to… try and sleep together. And Arthur was going to let Alfred kiss him this time, not only because it’d make things easier, but because he truly wanted to kiss Alfred.

Arthur felt like he could trust Alfred. Every time he looked at Alfred, a piece of him would think Alfred was someone he could allow himself to be with, someone he could be completely honest with. Still there was the other piece, the one that was still bitter and hurt and that didn’t want him to trust anybody, not completely, not without doubting at least a little bit. This part was getting smaller and smaller, but it was still there, and it still held Arthur back. Arthur wished it would just disappear or get too weak so he’d be able to ignore.

With a sigh, he decided that it was not worth it to think about that, and that the best thing he could do was to focus on his work and text Alfred later and make plans with him for later that week.

It was around midday, which was usually the busiest time of the day with guests checking out. Arthur had just finished checking out an old lady and was still typing something on his computer when he heard a couple moving towards the front desk.

A woman was saying, “... you sure? That’s a great idea, honey! We could have more of those blue roses, too, they’re so pretty… I wonder if it's gonna be too expensive…”

Then a man replied, “Don't worry about that, we can afford some flowers.”

And Arthur froze there, his fingers hovering the keyboard, because he knew that voice.

It was one he hadn't heard in a long time, but one he had not forgotten.

The couple was right in front of him then, and Arthur pretended to be typing as he looked quickly to his coworker, who unfortunately was busy with another guest.

Arthur gulped a frustrated sigh and looked up.

And there he was.

The person Arthur most hated in his life.

It was so unfair, Arthur thought, that time was being so kind to him. He looked like he didn't have a single worry in life, which was probably true. He looked younger than Arthur knew he was, and also happy. He looked so _happy_ that Arthur thought the appropriate thing to feel right at that moment upon seeing that person was _hate_ , but… he wasn’t feeling it. He wasn’t angry. He just felt numb and confused.

“Welcome to the Emerald Hotel, how… how may I help you?” Arthur said, because it was what he was supposed to say.

Arthur’s eyes met _his_ eyes, and for a second it felt like he wasn’t going to be recognized.

“I want a room for three days, please.” he said, and she added, smiling and showing a fancy ring on her finger,

“He proposed this morning… it was so cute, most alphas aren’t that romantic anymore… so we decided to make a short trip!”

“Congratulations.” Arthur offered with his perfect work-smile. As long as he didn’t keep it up for long, most people thought it was sincere, “A room for two people for three nights, then, correct?” he asked, looking down at his computer to check. He wanted to say they didn’t have any vacant rooms, but he couldn’t lie.

“Yes… wait.” the man said, and Arthur looked up to see if he had changed his mind, and their eyes met again. This time he raised his eyebrows and looked down to Arthur’s name tag, and Arthur knew he had been recognized. Arthur wished he’d just act like a decent human being and pretend they didn’t know each other, but instead he said,

“Arthur. Arthur Kirkland? Wow. I thought I’d never see you again!”

Arthur fake-smiled at him.

“I need you to fill this form, please.” Arthur said as he handed over a small tablet.

He took it and as he typed his information, he shook his head with a chuckle, “Man… what are you doing here? Didn’t you used to say you were going to work for Nasa or some other big name like that?” he said, chuckling more.

Arthur felt warm tears forming at the back of his eyes as his chest got ice-cold. He wondered why and what that guy was doing. But he knew that what he was feeling could be easily spotted if _he_ by any chance stepped close or tried to smell him, so Arthur took a quiet, deep breath and tried to focus only on seeming professional and calm. _Just a little longer_ , he told himself.

“Do you know each other?” the woman asked, a bit confused. She was a very petite omega.

“Yeah,” he said, and then added, “kinda, I mean. We went to the same University…” he typed a bit and for some reason felt like he needed to add, “Arthur was wild, he was always dating someone from the football team.”

“Oh… weren’t you in the football team too?” the woman asked, eyeing Arthur with a hint of jealousy that Arthur felt like laughing at, but did not.

“Well, yes, that’s how I met him in the first place.” he said, and she quickly asked,

“Did _you_ ever date him?”

“Nope, Arthur was not my type. No offense, dude.” he said, laughing and looking briefly to Arthur with a very serious expression, and Arthur wanted to _scream_ . He wanted to look right into his eyes and shout, _Yeah, right, I was_ so _not your type, Richard, that you were always drooling after me like a dog after meat and you were so happy when I finally agreed to let you fuck me that it almost felt like you cared, you prick_. But he knew he couldn’t say any of that, that he’d lose his job if he did, and that guy was not worth it. Arthur wasn’t going to let him take anything else from him.

Then he handed the tablet back and Arthur pressed a key in his computer to pick a room to give them. Arthur was having trouble containing everything inside of him, so he did not ask if they’d rather a room in this or that floor, he just picked one on his own and handed Richard the keycard,

“Here is your key, Mr. Brookshire. Your room is the room 217, in the second floor. You can take the elevator to my left. Every overnight grants you breakfast, which is served everyday from 7 to 10. Should you need anything, please dial 0 from your room phone. We also have Wi-Fi, you can find the password by the phone.” he said mechanically, avoiding Richard’s eyes because he did not want to look at them anymore or ever again.

“Uh…” Richard said, “217?”

“Yes,” Arthur answered with a very fake smile, because Arthur wanted him to know that it was a fake one, “Is there a problem, sir?”

“Uh, no… no, it’s alright.” Richard said, and then added, “Thanks, Arthur.”

“Nice to meet you.” the woman said, and Arthur nodded,

“Have a wonderful stay at the Emerald hotel.”

He watched as the couple went towards the elevator and then disappeared from his sight, and only then he allowed himself to fall on his chair with a shaky sigh. He was feeling sick.

He looked down at his hands and they were shaking, and it made him feel so much worse. Why did he need to feel like that? Why couldn’t he feel angry, why did he need to feel weak and hurt? It was so unfair. It was so unfair that the most he could do, the closest to a comeback or revenge was to give Richard a room that would remind him of a movie he was scared of. Arthur wanted to cry, and he was so focused on not crying that he almost jumped from his seat when a hand touched his shoulder, and he looked up to face his co-worker.

“Dear,” she said, “You smell terrible… are you feeling alright? You should go home and rest.”

“I… no, I really… I’m alright. I’m going to be alright.” Arthur answered, again with a fake-smile.

But his co-worker smiled at him with such a kind smile that Arthur couldn’t help but to put his aside,

“You are clearly not ‘alright’, dear.” she squeezed his shoulder lightly, “Go home. Say you’re sick, they will understand.”

Arthur wanted to stay because he wanted to be there in case Richard called and said he wanted to switch rooms, but… he was about to start crying right there in the front desk, so he agreed it was best for him to go home. At least there nobody would see him break down.

He thanked his co-worker and apologized for the trouble, and then went to his boss’ office to say he was not feeling so well.

“Yes, I can smell that… go home, Kirkland. You can compensate this later. Go rest.” he said with a small smile, and Arthur was thankful for his boss for not making any questions or acting angry about it, even though he wasn’t doing more than being a decent person.

So Arthur took a bus home and marched straight to his bed, where he laid down with his uniform and shoes still on because he couldn’t care less about it at the moment. All he wanted was to lie there, to stay there quietly until it all went away - those awful feelings of sadness and emptiness and loss.

While he was lying there, his knees close to his chest, his eyes drifted around the room, and Arthur imaginated that Richard was there in one of the corners, glaring at him, and he was not alone: he was with Arthur’s parents and they were glaring at him too, and judging and despising him and blaming him. And maybe, Arthur thought, he was feeling so awful and not angry because he blamed himself too.

Arthur closed his eyes, because he did not want to see them, he did not want to feel that way, and suddenly his phone was buzzing on his pocket.

Still lying there, he hooked the phone from his pocket and checked who was calling him. Arthur was not surprised to find Alfred’s name there, but… it still made him smile briefly. He accepted the call.

“Hello?” Arthur said quietly, and Alfred answered with a loud, happy voice,

“Hey, Arthur! Sorry to call during your lunch break but I was wondering if I could treat you and Amelia to dinner tonight?”

Arthur thought that it’d be nice and fun to go out for dinner with Alfred and Amelia, because Amelia liked Alfred and so did Arthur. However…

“I’m sorry, Alfred, but I don’t think I can make it today…” he said, and he tried to laugh a bit to show Alfred that it was nothing personal, to later tell a lie about his job, but… what started with a laugh quickly became sobbing. Arthur covered his mouth with a hand, but it was too late. Alfred was already asking,

“Wait, are you… are you crying? Are you okay?”

“No.” Arthur answered honestly because he was too tired to lie. Alfred had already figured out he was crying, so what?, “I… saw Amelia’s father today and I… I’m not ok right now, but I’ll be, don’t worry. I just…”

“Aw, shit, Arthur, are you at work?” Alfred asked. He sounded worried and Arthur felt guilty about it.

“No, not anymore. My coworker said I should come home, so I did.” Arthur explained.

“Alright. Good. Stay there, I’m coming.” Alfred answered, and Arthur took a couple seconds to understand what he meant.

“No, Alfred, don’t!” he said hurriedly, “I’ll be fine, don’t worry. You have your work, and I…”

“I have a two hour break, don’t worry, Artie. Just stay there, ok?” Alfred said and rang up, giving Arthur no time to say anything else.

Arthur put his phone in bed in front of him and stared at it, not knowing what else to do. He looked up to the corner and it felt like _they_ were still there, staring at him like ghosts in the back of his mind, never quite leaving. Only now they were closer for some reason, and Arthur could see them more clearly.

Closing his eyes, he felt like he could see them even better. His family: his omega mother and his alpha father, but also his two older alpha sisters to whom he always looked up. Last time he checked they were still a police officer and an owner of a pub. And there was also his twin beta sisters who were born when he was to leave to study abroad. They were only a bit older than Amelia was, and Arthur felt weird to think about them. They were a part of his family he barely knew, even though… now he barely knew any of them.

He remembered how it was growing up with two older alphas, how he wanted to be strong, witty and determined just like they were, and that he was always discouraged by them and by his father. He remembered watching them play from his room window because, as they were always saying, he was too small and too delicate to play wrestling with them, or anything else for that matter. He remembered getting angry at them and trying to fight them, only to have them laugh and lock him in his room telling him he should stay there and play with baby dolls.

He remembered his relationship with his parents had always been... fine. Not as good as he wanted it to be, but also not as bad as it could be. His mother was kind and had always made him feel like he could work with anything he wanted to. Every time he mentioned he wanted to study Maths or Chemistry, she’d say she was proud of him, that he'd be great at anything he’d chose. His father was kind of distant, but once in awhile when Arthur hadn't been saying that he didn’t want to have kids just to make them angry, he'd hug Arthur or smile to him and tell him he had a bright future ahead. And it always made Arthur’s chest warmer.

He then remembered the arguing with Richard when he told him about the pregnancy. He remembered Richard telling him to _do_ something about it on his own, that it was not _his_ fault Arthur hadn’t taken his pills, that Richard couldn’t and wouldn't do anything about it. Arthur remembered him leaving and slamming the door behind him while he stayed there, lost, feeling everything crumbling around and below him.

He remembered calling his parents. He remembered his mother, once so happy about his scholarship, then saying, “ _I knew this was bound to happen, going to the States to study! Study! And now look at you! I_ knew _it was going to happen, I should have never let you go, to that… you should’ve stayed here and took courses here and married someone, so it wouldn’t happen, so you wouldn’t be giving yourself to any alphas… come home, Arthur, come home and we'll find you a husband and we will pretend this disgrace never happened..._ ”

To that Arthur had replied he did not want to go back, that he did not want to abandon his scholarship and his opportunity to study, that he did not want to give up of all of that because of a baby, and then… and then there was his father, _angry_ , saying,  

“ _So are you going to_ kill _it? Are you going to kill the baby or give it away? I didn’t raise you to be like that, i didn't raise a murderer and I didn’t raise someone who puts his own children in the_ trash _! You don’t need to come back, I don’t want you to ever come back here!_ ” and Arthur could hear his mother crying in the background, and then his father had hanged up and he couldn’t hear anything else.

After that he just sat there for a long, long time. He hadn’t honestly thought too much or taken any decisions, he was so… confused. He had called to look for comprehension and kindness, but… he had only found more hurt and doubt and fear.

He remembered feeling like shit. He remembered it so well he could feel it again, taking over his entire body and making him want to shrink till he disappeared.

He didn’t want a baby at the time, and he honestly thought about giving it away or aborting it. He had some savings from working after school at his aunt’s bookstore and from his internship and he didn’t even know if it’d be enough, but… it was a chance to put it all in the past and move on with his life, to study, to follow his dreams and his plan to graduate and work and…

But he just couldn’t.

He just couldn’t do it because he felt like his father’s words were echoing inside his head again and again and again, haunting his waking hours and chasing him in his sleep to the point where he just decided he wouldn’t do it.

Arthur remembered that deciding to have Amelia was the hardest thing he had ever done.

It took him weeks to take that decision, and once he did he had a lot of shattered plans and dreams to sweep away. He remembered wanting to call his family to tell them what he had decided, but… nobody picked up. After a few tries, he just gave up.

He remembered feeling so alone. He still was, actually. It was something that had became part of him, something that buried itself in his chest, to remind him that people would just abandon and hurt him.

So he kept the baby.

He dropped out of school.

He found a job.

He made new plans and tried to follow them.

And there he was now.

He had done all of that alone, and although Amelia helped him ignore it, he… he felt really lonely.

At that moment, lying in bed and staring back at his ghosts he felt like he had been running from them that whole time, and now they had finally catched up. And it was so unfair, because even if he had been running, he could still hear them once in awhile. He was alone and his only company were those ghosts.

The bell rang.

Arthur looked towards his room door, but did not move. He closed his eyes and hugged his knees, trying to ignore everything but mostly the ache in chest.

The bell rang again, more insistent this time.

So Arthur slowly got up and made his way towards the door. He opened it mechanically and he didn’t know if it was Alfred’s expression or scent or both, but something in Alfred was _bright_ , like there was a small sun inside of him, and looking at him was too much for Arthur’s eyes, so they started to melt. It took Arthur a couple seconds to understand it was tears.

“Artie, are you okay?” Alfred asked with a soft, quiet voice that Arthur wasn’t used to hearing.

So Arthur just looked at him, feeling his chest aching and his throat tight like there was a rope squeezing it.

And he opened his mouth to say he was fine, but instead he just cried.

He cried loudly, too much tears coming out of his eyes at once, his voice echoing in the apartment and in the hallway, his body trembling with too much feelings and too much hurt and too much, just too much of everything he had been carrying around for all those years.

So without saying anything, Alfred came to him and hugged him really tightly, like he was never going to let Arthur go from that hug. And Arthur liked that feel, so he hugged Alfred back, allowing himself to cry, to just cry it all away.

Alfred let go of him just for a few seconds to close the door and Arthur felt like he was not going to be hugged again, but he was: Alfred took him by the hand and guided him to the couch, where he sat. He indicated his lap with a hand and Arthur sat there without thinking twice, because he wanted, he needed Alfred’s scent and warmth and love. When Arthur got in his lap, Alfred hugged him again, cradling him gently and whispering gently that everything was going to be just fine. Right at that moment, Arthur believed it would be. He hoped it would be. So he cried and cried until he had no more tears to cry, and then he just stayed there, his head against Alfred’s shoulder as Alfred hugged him and occasionally kissed his forehead.

Everything was really quiet, and Arthur didn’t know what to do about the feelings of love and comfort he was feeling upon inhaling Alfred’s scent.  

Love.

He was feeling so loved, and it was so weird. He knew Amelia loved him, but… it was different. Amelia loved him because Arthur was the only family she had. She _had_ to love him. But Alfred… Alfred didn’t need to love Arthur, and yet… he did? Or… at least he seemed to.

Arthur partially parted the hug to look at Alfred, only to find a smile in his lips. A small one, but a kind one. Alfred caressed his cheek gently with his thumb, putting away some tears,

“It’s gonna be alright, Artie. I’m, I’m here with you.” he said, to which Arthur nodded.

“Thank you.” he said quietly.

“It’s okay. You don’t need to thank me.” Alfred reassured him, “Are you feeling better?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

And they looked at each other for a little while, Arthur feeling his heart beating fast and his chest was warm and it was such a weird, quick change. He had a bunch of different feelings inside of him now, but not in a bad way.

So he closed his eyes and let the feelings flow free inside him, and they told him to kiss Alfred, so he did.

He pressed his lips against Alfred’s but Alfred looked genuinely confused and pushed Arthur away carefully.

“Arthur…” he said with a hurt expression, “You don’t need to do this. To… to kiss. I didn’t do any of this because I want to have sex with you or something, I couldn’t care less about these things now, I’m here because I care about _you_ and so you don’t need to do this, to… try to pay me or something.”

“I don’t…” Arthur started, but he didn’t know how to say that. So he just nodded, because even if he could smell that on Alfred’s scent, it was good to hear him saying it. It made it more reliable. It made it more true.

With a smile, Alfred kissed his cheek, using this opportunity to inhale Arthur’s scent. He hesitated then, his lips still close to Arthur’s skin.  

“Do you… do you _really_ wanna kiss me?” he asked, his cheeks pink which Arthur thought was really cute, “I… I can smell that, but…”

“I do.” Arthur said.

“Oh.” Alfred replied.

So they looked at each other and kissed.

Alfred’s hand was on Arthur’s cheek as they kissed and it made Arthur feel like he could melt entirely, but he didn’t, he stayed whole to feel every touch against his skin and every movement of Alfred’s tongue on his.

And while they were kissing Arthur couldn’t help but to think that maybe…

Maybe he wasn’t alone anymore.

That maybe it was alright to trust Alfred, that that small part of him who didn’t trust anybody _could_ be ignored and put aside.

Then it came to him: he already did. He already trusted Alfred. He already loved him. This realization came with tears, so Alfred parted the kiss to dry them away.

“It’s going to be okay, Artie.” he said again, to reassure Arthur.

And Arthur nodded, because he trusted Alfred.

“I know.” he said, and rested his head against Alfred’s shoulder, a soft smile on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! please tell me what you think of it!!
> 
> ALSO! I'M VERY HAPPY TO SAY THIS!! Lovely rbcccmly @ tumblr made a fanart!!!! for this fic!!! and i'm still crying over this so here is a link for y'all to go check it out!!!!!
> 
> 06/06 UPDATE: a dear friend of mine made me another fanart!!! aaaaaa so i'm putting it here t0o. I'VE NEVER HAD SO MANY FANARTS I'M CRYING  
>  
> 
> [art by rbccmly @ tumblr: Alfred and Arthur first meeting ](http://rbcccmly.tumblr.com/post/161037513699/doodle-a-day-18-i-wanted-to-push-myself-a-little)
> 
>  
> 
> [ art by evil-story-teller @ tumblr: Plan B ](http://not-aph-england.tumblr.com/post/161476452031/tfw-ur-friend-doesnt-even-read-your-fic-but-still)


	13. Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, guys! Here we go again!  
> This chapter is another very important one, and I hope you all like it!  
> Thank you so, so much for all the nice (even the angry ones!!) commentaries! It means a lot to me!  
> Tbh, I was thinking of closing this fanfic with 16 chapters, but after publishing the last one I came to the realization that it's not gonna be possible, because there's still some important things to be dealt with, and I don't think it'd be fair to you guys and even Arthur to leave some things untouched, sooo... bear with me, there's still some storms to come, but I promise the ending will be a happy one; Arthur deserves it.  
> Anyway...!  
> I added this at the end notes in the last chapter, but just in case someone didn't see it,[here's a link](http://not-aph-england.tumblr.com/post/161476452031/tfw-ur-friend-doesnt-even-read-your-fic-but-still)for the cute fanart my friend made!   
> There's two fanarts for Plan B now, wow!!! i cry

 

Arthur wanted to have sex with Alfred. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. Maybe it was pheromones and hormones talking, he was aware of that, but it did not change the fact that he wanted it. They had spent hours hugging and kissing the previous day, all while Arthur was still sitting on Alfred’s lap, and Alfred’s smell was so intoxicating, so… _everywhere_ , they entered Arthur’s system with every breath he took, and they just didn’t have sex there and then because the bell rang and Amelia’s voice said:

“Dad! Dad? Why didn’t you wait for me downstairs?”

So Arthur got up as fast as he could, almost falling as he walked towards the door, took a couple of deep breaths and opened it, apologizing to Amelia hundreds of times. She frowned when she saw Alfred there, and she clearly didn’t buy it when Arthur said they had been watching a movie together (the TV had been off, after all), but she also didn’t ask any questions and left to her room to do her homework and to play. She seemed a bit upset and Arthur sighed, wondering how he could make it up to her.

Not long after that, Alfred said he needed to go, and they hugged awkwardly, aware of what they had almost done, Alfred’s hands sliding from Arthur’ shoulders to his arms and only stopping at his hands, holding both of them.

“I talk to you later.” he told Arthur, and leaned to give him a quick kiss, which made Arthur smile weakly and blush.

“I’m sorry I made you leave work like that…” Arthur said, but Alfred shook his head,

“Hey, don’t worry about it, okay? It’s fine. Seeya.” he smiled, and left.

Arthur took a shower, made dinner and apologized to Amelia again, but at the back of his mind all he could think of was Alfred, was having Alfred inside of him, the thoughts like a fog covering everything else.

Once he put Amelia to bed he grabbed the cushions on his couch that smelled heavier of Alfred and took all of them to his bed, hugging them against himself and inhaling all of Alfred’s scent he could.

It was embarrassing, but he couldn’t stop himself from sliding his hand into his pants and stroking himself, his face against one of the cushions to both get more of Alfred’s scent and to muffle his soft gasps, and he kept picturing Alfred there with him, touching him, whispering nice things against his ear, kissing him, making him feel loved and wanted and so, so _good_.

By the time he orgasmed the fog on his mind had dissipated, leaving his thoughts more accessible, and he stared at the ceiling for a long time after that, his hand still sticky and inside his pants.

That had been such a long, exhausting day, he thought. He decided he and Alfred should do something together, and soon. It would be nice - Arthur was sure that, this time, when they attempted to have sex, it wouldn’t be as awkward as it had been before… and....  

And since the fog of lust wasn’t blocking everything else anymore, he also thought about the rest of his day, of Richard, of all his crying and feelings and… and everything.

He hadn’t actually vented to Alfred, but he still had showed him a very weak and fragile part of himself, and as he did so Alfred had hugged him and told him that things would be fine and made Arthur feel so, so loved and… and Arthur had believed everything he had said, every bit of it. Arthur trusted him. And perhaps, he thought, this was part of why he was _wanting_ Alfred so much - not only because of their kissing, but also because of how Alfred made him feel. He trusted Alfred, he liked Alfred, he… wanted Alfred, not only in a sexual way, but mostly… he really wanted Alfred in his life. He wanted Alfred in the sense that, in the future, maybe, they could be together as a couple. Of course, Arthur laughed to himself, that had been a long day and he wasn’t thinking straight about things, he was tired and exhausted, and it was only an idea. He was fragile and Alfred had held him with such tenderness and now his hormones were putting all kinds of thoughts and hopes and ideas in his head.

And although Arthur had told himself it would all fade the next day, it did not. Those thoughts and hopes were still there the next day, and in a way it was good. Having hopes for the future was helping Arthur be less anxious about Richard.

Richard, in whom he hadn’t thought the previous night since he was so intoxicated in his feelings for Alfred, was back to his mind now that he was sober and aware that there were chances they’d be meeting again. Richard was still in the hotel, after all. He could call the front desk to ask for something and Arthur would have to pick the call and talk to him and grant his every need.

It was so _frustrating_.

Arthur honestly thought about calling work and giving them some excuse to not go to work for the next two days, to only go back there when he was sure Richard would be long gone, but… but at the same time, he did not want to run away, he did not want to hide. Arthur was so confused about that, and there was so much within himself that he’d like to tell Richard. There was so much he always wanted to say, but never did, because Richard left him and he held on to his pride at the time to not go after him, to not show how broken he was, so… so he just gathered all he wanted to say, yell, scream to himself, and he never said any of that, and he had always told himself that it was fine, that it didn’t matter, but it did. It did matter, all those unsaid things had made him bitter, angry, lonely and scared, and lately he’d tell himself that if he ever saw Richard again he’d tell him how much of an asshole he was and how much Arthur hated him. However now that he _had_ seen Richard, he couldn’t do it: because Richard was in the hotel, because if Arthur did say anything, Richard could just fill a complaint against Arthur and Arthur’s job would be in the line and Arthur did not want that. He couldn’t afford that; as much as he wanted to tell Richard exactly where in Hell he should go live, he couldn’t afford losing his job. He wouldn’t let Richard take anything else from him.

He sighed, packing Amelia’s lunch. He’d rather be thinking about Alfred again, and not… that. He wished he’d be magically over all of that, like Francis was always suggesting. He wished all the crying he did the previous day would be enough to heal him once and for all, but it was not. He wondered what would, and if anything _ever_ would.

His phone buzzed on the kitchen table and he smiled to himself. It was a text message from Alfred.

**Alfred:**

good morning sunshine!

 

Still smiling, he replied the text.

**Arthur:**

Good morning, Alfred! Have a good day.

 

With a content sigh, he called for Amelia and braided her hair before they left for her to take the school bus and for Arthur to go to work - despite his anxiety and fear of going, he still needed to. So he was going to do it.

As they were leaving their apartment, their neighbor was leaving her’s, a couple of bags in hand. Arthur had seen her once or twice, but he had not spoken to her ever since before his last heat, when he asked her to babysit Amelia. She had came back from his trip some days ago, but Arthur had been so busy with everything and hadn’t had time to speak with her. Now, as they waited for the elevator together (Amelia had pressed the button since, according to her, it was one of her jobs), Arthur decided to be a good neighbor and ask her how she was doing.

“How was your trip to your parents’? We haven’t talked since you came back.” Arthur asked politely after they said hello to each other.

“Oh, it was wonderful. I really miss them, with me living so far away... They are so old… I wish they would move here to live with me, but they care too much about their farm.” Frankie said with such caring that an image of Arthur’s parents flashed into his mind, and he wondered how _they_ were doing. The image became the memory of how they had treated him and ignored his calls, and then quickly disappeared from his mind. All he did not need right now was to think of his parents. Frankie added, “Did you find someone to take care of this precious little thing during your heat?” and she pinched Amelia’s cheek, who giggled.

“Oh, yes, I did, it all went well.” he said, and refrained from saying who had taken care of Amelia and how awful he was after his heat. Amelia decided those were important things to say, so she did:

“I stayed with Alfred. He’s my best friend Matt’s uncle, he’s very cool and he gave me a coloring book! He’s really funny and dad really likes him, they even had a sleepover! And that is good because Alfred is nice and I like him too! Only dad got sick… I was so worried, we even had to get him to the _hospital_.”

Arthur blushed.

“Amelia, that’s not…” he said, but the elevator arrived and he stopped talking as they walked in and Amelia pressed the ground floor button.

“Oh, no, what happened, Arthur? Are you ok?” Frankie asked, worried.

“Please, don’t worry about it. It was nothing, I was just… tired. You know, heats are…” Arthur said, a bit embarrassed, and fortunately Frankie got the hint and just nodded.

“I hope you are better now. And it’s good to see you liking someone, Arthur.” Frankie said simply, a kind smile on her lips.

“Ah, well… We’re, you know... just friends.” Arthur said, awkward. He was still coming in terms with his feelings, and he certainly did not want to share them with other people just yet, “Alfred is a good friend.”

“That’s good too. I’ve never seen you mentioning a friend before.” Frankie said to Arthur, and then to Amelia, “Come visit me soon, honey. I’ll make your favorite cake.” and she winked to Amelia, who offered a bright smiled and jumped happily a couple of times,

“Yay!” she said.

Arthur chuckled at that, and as the elevator’s door opened and Frankie stepped out, she added,

“You can come as well, Arthur. We can talk more then. If you ever want me to babysit Amelia for you to go to another _sleepover_ with your friend, just tell me. It’s always a pleasure to have her company.”

“Thank you, Frankie.” Arthur said, nodding, his face all red, and as Frankie waved them goodbye, Amelia waved back,

“Bye, Frankie!”

Arthur then waited for the school bus with Amelia, kissed her goodbye before letting her enter the yellow bus, waved to her until the bus left, and then he left to take his own bus to work. On his way there he thought that, well, he _could_ ask Frankie to babysit Amelia for the next time Alfred came to spend the night. He trusted Frankie with Amelia, and he knew his daughter would be in good, caring hands, and that they wouldn’t get a call or a knock in the middle of the night again because Amelia was scared - and, Arthur thought, he was pretty sure the next time they were on their _sleepover_ , they’d be very disappointed to be interrupted.

Once he finally got to work, he left his bag on his locker and went straight to apologize with his coworker for the previous day, for having to leave in the middle of the expedient like that.

But she just smiled and waved his worries away, saying,

“Don’t you worry about that, it’s alright. If you want to talk, we can, but don’t apologize.”

Arthur smiled in response, nodding. He did not want to talk, not at that moment, but… it was good to hear that, even if something inside him was saying she was just being nice.

At that moment, all he wanted to do was to focus exclusively in his work and to not think in anything related to the previous day. As time dragged on, he caught himself checking his phone many times after texts from Alfred, but there were none.

Alfred was always sending him random messages about random things from his daily life, such as photos of things he ate or saw or did, and Arthur knew he did not have a set time for these things. Sometimes he’d send lots of things in the morning, and other times he’d send a single message in the afternoon with a photo of his computer and desk, saying he was tired of editing a photo or something like that, and Arthur understood that he might be busy that day, but… he couldn‘t help but to wish that Alfred wouldn’t be busy, that he would spam him with texts to keep Arthur distracted from his thoughts.

Finally, after what seemed to be ages, it was lunch break. Arthur got up from his chair and discreetly yawned, however before he could leave the front desk, someone caught his attention, a woman walking towards the desk, hands to her side as her eyes were fixed on Arthur.

It was… uh, Richard’s fianceé.

Arthur felt his chest tightening, but did not move.

When she reached the front desk she just said,

“Can I speak with you?”

Arthur knew what she meant, but smiled and said anyway:

“Yes, Mrs. Brookshire? Is there something wrong with your room?”

“No,” she said, “and you can call me Sophie. Can we _talk_?”

_No, we cannot_ , Arthur wanted to say, but instead he sighed, informed his coworker he’d be leaving for his lunch break and lead Sophie to the backdoor with a simple, “This way.”

Once they arrived at the common area, Arthur moved to near a couch so they could sit, but as Sophie decided to keep standing, Arthur kept standing too, crossing his arms in front of him.

“So. What did you want to talk about?” he asked, unsure.

“I just want to make some simple questions.” Sophie answered, looking around briefly and then putting her hands on her pockets, “Were you close to Rick?”

“... Why don’t you ask him? _He_ ’s your groom, not me.” Arthur answered defensively.

“I did.” Sophie answered, “He told me what he had said when we were checking in. That you used to date football players.”

“That I was _wild_.” Arthur nodded, and he wanted to laugh, but did not. He wasn’t wild, he never was. He used to be really focused on his studies, and once in awhile he’d go to some party or other and make out with someone just to relieve some stress. He had had only one boyfriend, a Literature student, and made out with a few football players in parties, yes. Richard had been one of those, and he had came after Arthur and they went out for a while. “If he told you, what do you want from me? Don’t you trust him?” Arthur asked, and the way Sophie visibly stiffened answered him: she did not. Not completely, at least.

“You see…” she said with a weak smile, “I asked him and he told me, but… he looked at his watch and kept coughing, the same way he did when he first told me about his parents. He told me they were an omega and an alpha, but… later on I found out they were two male alphas.” she shrugged, “Did you know that?”

“No,” Arthur answered, “How could I know? I don’t _know_ him. I don’t want to.”

“I know you don’t.” Sophie said, and touched her wavy, black hair lightly, “I noticed there was something... weird between you two. I don't know what it is, but I felt it. And I'm curious, and I can't sleep well when I'm curious... so I want to know. Did you sleep together?"

Arthur sighed. He wondered what was it that she wanted. A reason to break up with him? He wanted to tell her everything then, that he was a terrible person and that she should get away from him, break up with him and never see him again, but… he feared what might happen if he did. She’d go to their room, confront him, and… and what if Richard decided to get a revenge, to do something that somehow would make Arthur lose his job? No, he couldn’t risk that.

Arthur shook his head.

“I don’t care if you did or not, I can tell Rick’s not attracted to you and neither are you for him. I just want to _know_.” she said, and Arthur could sense the urgency in her scent. He didn’t understand why she wanted to know that so much if it did not matter, and he did not want to tell, but he ended up sighing and saying:

“Yes. We did. Once. Seven years ago. We didn’t know each other well, and finals were around the corner and we were stressed… it wasn’t a big deal.” Arthur said, just to get that over with, just so she’d leave and he’d eat his lunch and leave it all behind.

“Huh.” she said, nodding, and then she took a phone out of her pocket, typed her password and looked at it for a few seconds. She then took a deep breath and asked, “Is he the father?”

Arthur just stared, shocked.

He had absolutely no idea where it had came from. After gulping, he managed to say, "What?"

"Is he the father." she repeated, "Of your daughter."

"H-how do you... what." Arthur said, confused and a bit scared.

"I just searched your name on Facebook. Arthur Kirkland. It was easy to find." Sophie smiled and showed Arthur his profile on her phone. And there he was, smiling with Amelia in a photo. She looked at her phone again and read, “Twenty-five years old, works at the Emerald Hotel… Single. Then there’s your profile pictures. You’re always with a little girl. The most recent is eight months old and the caption is ‘Amelia’s 6th birthday’... and someone commented, ‘Your daughter is so cute!’... but there’s no comments of people calling her their ‘daughter’ or anything, no mention of another father or mother… you know a lot of your information is public, right?” she had an almost concerned tone at the end, but Arthur was too shocked to answer. All he managed to do was to stare at her.

He did know that.

It was on purpose. It was so his family could know how he was doing, if they ever felt interested in it.

“I’m sorry if I creeped you out…” she said apologetically, “I take he _is_ the father, by your reaction…” she sighed and put her phone away, “I just have one more question. It’s a very important one.” she hesitated for a few seconds and then asked, “Does he know? That it’s his daughter. I know he has no contact with her or with you, but… Did you tell him? Does he _know_ she exists?”

Arthur looked away, sighing. He understood, then, what it was all about. Sophie wanted to know if Richard did not know he was someone’s father or if he knew and decided _not_ to be someone’s father.

“He knows.” Arthur said quietly, and he thought Sophie would gasp or deny it or something like that, but all she did was sigh, as if she was expecting it.

And then she smiled.

“My parents really like him. He has money, he’s strong… and also a jerk sometimes.” Sophie shrugged again, “Not the worse, you know? My parents wanted me to get married, so I would… I guess I can find someone better.” she sighed once more, “Thanks for telling me.” she added, turning to leave.

“Wait!” Arthur said, and he continued once she turned back to him, “You can’t tell him I told you this. I don’t know what he’d do, and I can’t...”

“I won’t.” she smiled, and turned and left.

Once she was gone, Arthur almost collapsed on the couch behind him, covering his eyes with his arm.

Arthur just stayed there for a long, long time, he didn’t even know for how long, not knowing what to do, what to think. The only thing he knew was that he was anxious and scared and…

So he grabbed his phone and started typing a text to Alfred. He deleted the text without sending at least four times. He thought about sharing what had happened, but… he did not want Alfred to get out of work again because of him. Eventually, he sent a text that said simply,

“Hey, how’s work?”

His reply came about ten minutes later.

**Alfred:**

Meh

i have a lot on my plate rn...

:(

**Arthur:**

Oh… talk to you later then?

 

Arthur sighed, rubbing the corner of his eyes as he stood up. He wanted to talk to Alfred, even if just about some random thing from his work, just to make his heart stop beating so fast, to get distracted from the way he was feeling, but… he wouldn’t bother Alfred if he was busy. He’d have to deal with that alone. As always.

And he’d deal with that by going back to work since he had spent his whole lunch break sitting there staring at nothing and feeling overwhelmed.

By the time he got to the front desk, his heart sank and he mouthed, “Oh, no…”

Because Richard was there, apparently waiting for him, and he seemed _angry_.

When Richard spotted him, he hissed loudly,

“There you are, you _little shit_.”

Arthur stepped back when Richard moved closer to him, his eyes wide in fear.

“What did you _tell_ her?! She came down here and when she returned she said she was _leaving_. What did you say to her? Fucking omegas and their fucking big mouths! You just _had_ to feed her lies, you couldn’t just let it go, could you? What the fuck is wrong with you?!” he said, and Arthur could feel other people looking at them, and he wanted to get away from there, he did not want to deal with that, with Richard, he did not want to risk losing his job, but… _what_? How could Richard say _that_ , as if Arthur was the bad guy in the story?

“ _Me?_ ” he said, somewhat quietly, but bubbling with anger, “What is wrong with _you_! Who do you think you are, to… to say those things to me? After all you did?”

“I never did _anything_ to you!”

“Well, and isn’t that exactly the point?! You never did anything! You left me! You just moved on with your life, because you had _nothing_ to do with it, isn’t it? It was _my_ problem, _I_ should _deal_ with it on my own.” Arthur said back, feeling tears in his eyes and his whole body shaking. Richard’s scent was scary, it was angry, so angry and scary and Arthur hated how small it made him feel.

“Oh, please, you never _asked_ for help in any way!” Richard said, and it was so outrageous of him to say that, to look at Arthur in the eye and say that, like it was so simple, as if Arthur hadn’t asked him to pick something up that had fallen. Arthur gasped in fury and without thinking, he slapped Richard. It felt really good, it felt really freeing while Arthur was doing it, but in the second their eyes met again and Richard grabbed him by the collar, it wasn’t feeling good anymore.

“You _little_ …!”

“Let go of him!” someone said, a man Arthur didn’t know, and then him and someone else were pulling Richard away. Arthur noticed their uniforms and realized they were security guards.

“Let me go! I did nothing wrong! _He_ was the one who hit me! Let me go, you idiots!” Richard yelled, furious, as the other two alphas dragged him away, and Arthur could only stand there and stare.

He jumped when he noticed someone else’s scent next to him.

And he felt like he could faint when he saw it was his boss.

“I’m sorry.” he said quickly, anxious, before his boss could say something, “I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean any of this. I’m sorry.”

His boss shook his head,

“Don’t worry. Are you okay?” Arthur nodded, “Good. Do you want us to call the police?”

“No. No, it’s fine. I don’t want to… no.”

“Well, you seem really stressed, so why don’t you go home?” his boss suggested with a smile.

Arthur gulped.

“I don’t…”

“Just go. And take a couple of days off. I think it’ll be good for you.” his boss said still smiling, and Arthur knew he was supposed to offer an smile back and thank him, but he couldn’t. He was too scared and he could think of was that he was going to lose his job.

“There’s no need, sir. I… I can come tomorrow, I don’t mind. I’d like that, actually.” he said, clenching his fists.

“Arthur, really. Just go home. Don’t worry, okay? Just go, rest. We talk when you’re back.” his boss said in a final tone before moving away from Arthur, leaving him there _worrying_ , because telling him not to worry didn’t stop him from worrying.

He was worried, worried sick. He couldn’t lose his job. He was worried and he was scared and he was angry at himself for putting him in that position.

He wished Alfred was there. He wished Alfred was there to hug him, to tell him everything was going to be alright, because he trusted Alfred and if Alfred said it, Arthur would believe.

So he took a deep breath and called Alfred.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo...  
> Almost no Alfred in this chapter, but he'll be back in the next one :^)  
> Please let me know what you guys thought of this chapter!! I know there's a lot of OCs in it, I hope it's not a problem...??  
> Cya soon (I hope!)


	14. Alfred

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!! It's me!   
> This chapter took longer than usual to be updated and I'm sorry... ywy  
> There are a bunch of reasons for that but basically... I had to study for finals and write some papers... and then when I finallt got to write this chapter I... Suffered.   
> Seriously, this has been the most difficult chapter for me so far. Coincidently, this is also the longest chapter so far?? 8k words??? mygod.   
> The lenght wasn't the problem, though. The problem was that I wasn't sure how to organize things, and then I wasn't sure how to write the things in the order I chose, and then I suffered actually writing. I tried somthing... different in this chapter, but that I think was important. You'll see right when you start reading.   
> As promised, this chapter is full of Alfred. I hope you like it! ;3  
> And really, since this has been so hard for me, please give me feedback!! I really want to know what you guys think of this...! T-T I hope you'll like it...! 
> 
> oH AND ALSO!!!   
> ESPECIAL THANKS TO LILY-CLARE @ TUMBLR FOR MAKING
> 
> [THIS GORGEOUS, PURE FANART!](http://lily-clare.tumblr.com/post/163002746771/based-on-not-aph-englands-fic-plan-b-chapter)
> 
> THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH!!! MY HEART STILL BEATS FASTER EVERYTIME I SEE THIS. ASDFGHJK THANK YOU!!

His phone was in silent mode, so Alfred took a few seconds to notice someone was calling him. At first glance he was just going to refuse the call, but when his eyes fell to his screen and he saw _Arthur_ written in it, he stopped, his heart racing.

Arthur never called him.

Arthur always answered his texts and sometimes even sent texts without Alfred sending one first, but he never _called_. Except, like, that one time after his heat to ask about Amelia.

Alfred thought of the previous day, of how Arthur had cried in his arms and how scared and hurt he was, so he took a worried, deep breath, took off his headphones and answered the call.

“Hello?” Alfred said. He could hear Arthur’s shaky breathing on the other end, so he was quick to add, “Hey, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“I’m sorry for calling out of nowhere, I… I know you’re busy, but I just…” Arthur said, then stopped. Alfred was about to ask again what had happened, however Arthur finished before he could, “I just… I think I might lose my job and I’m so. I’m scared…”

“Wait, you _what_?!” Alfred practically yelled. He then noticed some pair of eyes turning in his direction, and added in a hurried voice, “Just one sec, let me go to a quieter place, Artie.”

As Arthur agreed, Alfred quickly got up from his chair and almost ran to the hall. “Alright, Artie, talk to me now. What happened?” Alfred asked. He heard Arthur breathing again, and then he stammered, stopped, took another deep breath.

“It’s just… uh… Amelia’s father… he showed up here yesterday, at the hotel. He didn’t know I worked here… he had a fiancée with him.” Arthur said finally. Alfred wasn’t sure how Arthur was feeling about that. It was hard to tell by the phone, without the help of hormones to guide him.

“That’s why you were feeling bad yesterday?” Alfred took the risk to ask.

“... yes. I didn’t… I wasn’t prepared to see him.” Arthur answered, and Alfred was glad to be right. And yet he was feeling awful for Arthur, and a milion sceneries popped up on his mind.

“Arthur, did he… do something to you? Just tell me. I’m going there right now, hold on.” Alfred said, and he meant it.

“No! No, it’s fine, there’s no need for you to come here now!” Arthur said quickly, and Alfred didn’t need to be good in understanding people through the phone to get that Arthur didn’t want him to leave work early again, “Just… well… It’s okay if you just listen…” Arthur asked, then he kept talking, “I don’t know how she… I mean, his fiancée came to talk to me, she noticed there was _something_ between Richard and me… She even found my Facebook profile, and connected the dots that Richard was Amelia’s father… I shouldn’t have confirmed her suspicions, but I did, then she broke up with him, and he… came to take satisfactions…”

“Oh, god, Arthur, he didn’t hurt you, did he? If he did, I—”

“No, he didn’t. Don’t worry. But he made a scene… he yelled… I… I slapped him.” Arthur said. He sounded embarrassed, but Alfred would have praised him for that if he hadn’t continued talking, “Then he _tried_ to do something, but… security took him out. My boss saw everything. He told me to take a couple of days off… and I don’t know if he means well or if he’s planning on firing me…” Arthur sighed, his voice shaking, “I _did_ make a scene though, and he _might_ fire me… I don’t know what I would do…”

Alfred bit his lip. He wasn’t sure what he should do. He had never been too good with advices; it wasn’t something that came naturally to him.

Yet he tried. He tried really hard.

“Hey,” he said slowly, “It’s going to be alright, okay? Everything is going to work out just fine in the end. I know it’s a generic thing to say, but…” he looked down to his own feet and noticed just then that he was pacing, “... I really believe it. And I think you should too. You work hard, don’t you? Your boss must know that too. So you’ll be fine, Artie.”

That advice sucked. It was terrible. It wasn’t even advice to begin it, it was just a bunch of taglines. Alfred wished his head wasn’t so full of worries so he could think of better things to say.

And even with those lame words he heard a sigh on the other side that seemed much less scared and anxious than before,

“Thank you, Alfred.” Arthur said, and he didn’t sound annoyed which was a good sign, “I… really needed to hear that, you know?”

“Anytime, man.” Alfred answered with a smile, proud of himself, proud he managed to make Arthur feel better. It filled his chest with a warm feeling. “Do you want me to come over later?” he asked then.

“Alfred, you shouldn’t leave your job early again, really, I’ll be fine.” Arthur assured him, and Alfred was glad. If Arthur asked, he would leave everything as it was and run to him, but he knew he shouldn’t. He had things, a lot of things, actually, to take care of.

“No, I mean… afterwards. After I finish things here, do you want me to come over? We can watch something. I can… hug you again… if you want. And talk. Or just watch the movie, it’s fine too, you decide.” Alfred suggested, his face getting reddish as he did. He felt really stupid for being so awkward about that. He was so stupid for always messing up when trying to talk about important things. It was surprising Arthur still _talked_ to him.

“... that sounds good.” Arthur mumbled and all of Alfred’s overthinkings went away. It was always like that. Alfred always thought he had fucked up, only to see that he hadn’t, that Arthur still wanted to be around him despite how much of an awkward mess everything was around him.

“Alright, then! I see you later, Artie! Take care and call me if you need anything!” Alfred made sure to say.

He had a small smile on his lips when he ended the call, but it quickly went away. When Alfred looked at his phone, there was still the notification for “five missed calls from Emma” that put a gloomy expression on his face.

He didn’t want to deal with her at the moment. So he just rolled his eyes and swiped the notification away, walking back to his desk.

Once back at his desk, he sat down on his chair and sighed at the unfinished project on his computer screen. There were a couple of pink post-its hanging from his monitor to remind him of his tight deadline, the date followed by a bunch of exclamation marks.

He put his phone on his messy desk and took his coffee mug. It was a plain white mug with “HTTP 404 brain not found” written in it because Antonio wanted to be a funny Secret Santa and which Alfred had grown to like after a few weeks, and he frowned when he noticed how cold his coffee was. He thought about getting up to heat it, but decided he should try and get at least some work done first.

However, as he was putting his headphone back on, Antonio slided his chair towards his desk,

“Did something happen with your omega again?” he asked with raised eyebrows and a slightly amused smile that made Alfred regret ever mentioning to his coworkers that he was trying to court someone.

“No, he’s fine.” he lied to avoid more gossips, “And I told you before, he’s not _my omega,_ he’s someone I’m interested in.”

“Yeah, we can all see _that_ , I mean what _don’t_ you do for this guy?”

“Ugh, shut up, I need to work.” Alfred rolled his eyes and put his headphone on. He hated Antonio when he decided to meddle in his life. He hated how, just because he was older, he thought he had the right to do that.

“Oh, he’s snappy today. Wait, don’t tell me you two had a fight just now?”

“No, we didn’t.”

“Does he want you to take care of his kid again?” Antonio asked with a chuckle and Alfred knew he was probably bored and just wanted to gossip to pass the time, and right then Alfred’s phone received another call.

_Emma_.

Why couldn’t she just _leave him alone_? He didn’t want to talk to her, he didn’t want to talk to Antonio or anyone else, so he huffed and glared at Antonio because he was the only one Alfred could glare at,

“Can you leave me _alone_? I’m not in the mood right now, okay!?”

“Alright, alright.” Antonio said then, putting his hands up in the air and sliding his chair back to his own desk.

Alfred was glad Antonio was a beta, otherwise he’d want to fight or argue. Alfred was younger and ridiculously awkward and not a good alpha at all, but… he was _still_ an alpha and betas tended to leave him alone if he asked them to. It was hard to believe sometimes, but apparently he had a strong scent and even if betas couldn’t smell it, he was still tall and strong-looking. Alfred’s sister used to joke that it was just that all the fat from the fast-food Alfred ate just went to the right places. And every time she’d say that Alfred would roll his eyes and say that she was jealous he had a good body almost effortlessly (he did run every morning) while she’d need to live in the gym and control everything she ate to achieve that. And then she’d nag at him.

The memory would usually make Alfred smile, but… he looked at his phone and the _missed call_ notification was back there.

He didn’t want to think about her.

He didn’t want to deal with her.

Alfred sighed, turning his music back on. He hated to feel so angry, but it was so hard not to be angry when nothing seemed to be in its place. It sucked. He tried not to think too much about it and focus on his job.

A few hours later, with his project just slightly improved and with still a thousand things still to be done, Alfred shoved his notebook and other belongings in his backpack to leave.

“Where are you going?” someone asked and Alfred didn’t think twice before answering,

“Uh, my shift’s over? So...”

“I know, but you were going to do extra hours today, weren’t you?” the same someone said. Alfred looked up to face said someone, which he then noticed was his boss: a tall, brunette alpha with long, wavy hair.

Then Alfred remembered he had promised her he’d work extra hours since he had left early the previous day.

Shit.

“Well, yes…” Alfred said, scratching the back of his neck, “But… something came up and I can’t do it today. I’ll do it tomorrow, I promise!”

He looked down when she sighed, her greenish eyes on him. She was scary sometimes.

“Fine, but keep in mind that our project is behind schedule and that we _need_ you to finish your assignments for the meeting next Monday. Otherwise…”

“Yeah, I know. I’m really sorry, Miss Herdevary.”

“Boy, I already told you not to call me that, you’re not an intern here anymore.” she said, rolling her eyes. Alfred even smiled a bit at that, “Besides, it makes me feel old. Just call me by my name.”

“Alright, Elizaveta.”

“See, much better. Now get out of here. And Alfred? If you don’t stay for extra hours tomorrow, you’ll be in trouble.” she added, smile still on her lips but her voice was serious, and Alfred knew she meant business.

“Okay. See ya tomorrow, then.” Alfred waved, put his backpack on his shoulder and left.

 

* * *

 

Arthur didn’t know what to do.

He took a shower as soon as he got home to try to wash away that gripping fear he felt all over himself, but to no avail.

So he put on comfortable clothes, sat down on his couch and turned on the TV to pass the time until he was to go down to await Amelia’s school bus. He soon realized the afternoon programs were too uninteresting for his anxious mind, and turned the TV off again.

The silence was almost unbearable and he couldn’t stop thinking about Richard, about what would happen if he lost his job, of what he was supposed to with himself, with Amelia… he tried not to think, he tried not to worry.

He tried to think about Alfred and about what he had said, that everything would be fine. Those words were so empty on their own, and yet they seemed like a promise when coming from Alfred, someone who was always smiling and happy and ready to help… he smiled just a bit, and told himself he should thank Alfred properly for all the help later. Maybe hw should make him a nice dinner, or maybe… invite him out somewhere, once that storm had passed and Arthur was sure his job was safe.

When the time for Amelia’s bus finally came, Arthur was quick to leave his apartment and take the elevator — he was trying to have a more optimistic view of things, but he was still pretty anxious.

Amelia left the bus with a wide smile and, as usual, she gave Arthur a hug once she saw him. However instead of talking about her day at school, she turned her head slightly to the left, “You’re smelling weird, dad.” she said.

Arthur offered her an awkward smile and patted her hair, “Don’t worry, honey, I’m okay.”

“Are you sick again?” she asked worriedly, and Arthur felt a bit guilty.

Amelia was just six years old, but she behaved like an older child most of the time. Sometimes Arthur worried it was his fault, he worried he wasn’t doing a very good job as a parent.

“I’m okay.” he said, holding her small, warm hand in his as they walked towards the elevator, “I’m just a bit tired. Don’t worry, okay? Dad’s fine.” he smiled at her, and he was glad when she smiled back. “So, are you not going to tell me about school?”

“I will! We did lots of cool things today!” Amelia said happily, and she detailed her day to Arthur as they went back home and, feeling a bit better, Arthur made dinner.

Not too much later, Arthur almost ran to the door when his doorbell rang. Dinner was almost ready, Amelia was playing with her toys in the living room and the doorbell meant only one thing.

Alfred.

Arthur opened the door with a small smiled and was greeted by a tense scent and a equally small smile.

“Hey, Artie!” Alfred said, coming forward and hugging Arthur. Up close Arthur was sure there was something out of place in Alfred’s smell, but he couldn’t tell what it is. He couldn’t really think about it, thought, because the hug was tight and warm and welcome and Arthur was focusing his entire being in that contact. He had been waiting for that hug for hours and to finally have it was great.

When the hug was over Alfred placed a gentle kiss on Arthur’s forehead, which made him blush and smile again.

Having Alfred over was like… sunbeams breaking through heavy, gloomy clouds.

“Hey. Thanks for coming, Alfred.” Arthur smiled at him, “Have you eaten?” Alfred shook his head as he took off his backpack and put it on the couch, “Then come eat with us.”

“Sure, it smells good.” Alfred nodded and made his way to Amelia, who waved at him, “Hello there, Amelia. How are you?”

“I’m fine! Do you want to play with me?” she smiled brightly, handing a doll to Alfred.

“After dinner, honey.” Arthur said from the kitchen table, “Now go wash your hands so we can eat.”

“Okay…” Amelia pouted, but did what she was told.

Meanwhile, Alfred went to the kitchen table as well, “How are _you_?” he asked Arthur, and he shrugged putting the dishes on the table.

“Oh, you know… tense. I’m… kind of scared, to be honest…”

“It’s going to be alright, Artie.” Alfred said, and Arthur nodded.

“I hope so.” he said, and when he looked up from the table, he saw Alfred taking the phone from his pocket and sighing.

“Are _you_ okay?” he decided to ask. Alfred was quick to nod.

“Yeah, of course! I’m great. Don’t worry about me.” he smiled, almost grinned, and Arthur couldn’t help but to think there was something odd about it. Still, he decided not to press Alfred.

By then Amelia was back from the bathroom with her hands washed and they sat down to have dinner.

Arthur was glad Amelia was there to talk about school because otherwise they’d be in silence. Alfred was strangely quiet. He was answering every question Amelia had, and he was asking questions back to her, but from time to time he would look to his phone or to a random spot as if he was thinking of something very important and just… be quiet, a tense shadow in his eyes that Arthur had never seen before. It was weird.

Arthur wondered if there was something wrong.

He tried to ask.

He said, “How was your day?”

But Alfred just shrugged and answered, “Eh, it was alright.”

And after dinner, after he sent Amelia to her room to do her homework, Arthur tried again,

“Did… something happen at work today?”

But again, Alfred’s answer was vague, “Nah, it was the same as always.”

So Arthur decided to stop asking and focused on washing the dishes. Alfred was still sitting on the chair at the table, checking something on his phone from time to time.

“Uh… what movie do you want to watch?” he asked.

“Anything’s fine.” Alfred said.

“Okay.” Arthur answered.

And for a moment the both of them were silent. It was heavy and weird and Arthur wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Alfred’s scent was weird, and Arthur didn’t know how to ask about it, he didn’t know if he should ask about it.

“... Alfred, I—”

“I’m sorry.”

“Hn?” Arthur was about to turn to face Alfred when he felt his arms around his waist and his head on his shoulder. Arthur’s heart went racing.

“I’m sorry.” Alfred said again, his voice quieter than usual, “I know it’s a hard moment for you now and stuff… I just, uh… it’s… I have some stuff at work to take care of. Nothing for you to worry about.” he said, but he didn’t… sound honest. His scent was weird, heavy. “I need to make a quick call now, I’ll be back in a second, okay?”

“Uh, okay. Sure.” Arthur said as Alfred moved away from him. He knew he should say something else, to remind Alfred that they could always talk if Alfred wanted, but… he just couldn’t find words.

Something was off.

Arthur finished the dishes and dried his hands in his apron as he turned to the table, only to find Alfred’s phone there, the screen lit with a incoming call.

Something was definitely off.

Arthur moved closer to the phone and he looked at the name at the screen out of curiosity.

Emma, it said.

That was… Alfred’s sister, wasn’t it? Arthur remembered Alfred mentioning her here or there.

He moved his hand towards the phone but stopped halfway, unsure. His heart was racing and his chest felt heavy, because Alfred had lied about going to make a call, and… should Arthur really go bother him?

Arthur, for the most part, wanted to leave the phone where it was and to wait for Alfred to come back inside, but he couldn’t stop thinking in the fact that maybe… that was an important call? Maybe Emma needed to talk to him immediately. So he took the phone in his hand and opened the front door.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise when he looked to the hall and saw Alfred sitting there, just… sitting there. He was staring at  the wall in front of him, a hand on his knee and his glasses on the ground.

There was… definitely something wrong with him. Arthur felt bad for not knowing what it was, and he had a feeling it was more than just Alfred’s work.

Of course, a problem with work was enough to leave _Arthur_ like _that_ , but Alfred was different, Arthur knew that much. He didn’t have someone else depending on his salary, he had a house of his own, he had everything together… didn’t he?

Arthur was about to go back inside and wait for Alfred to come back in when Alfred suddenly turned his head in his direction.

Arthur felt his cheeks warming up and turned his eyes to the side. Alfred had probably noticed his smell.

Alfred got up very fast and walked towards Arthur with red cheeks and a guilty, awkward smile on his lips. Arthur took the steps back inside his apartment as Alfred did the same,

“Sorry,” he said as he scratched the back of his neck, “You see, I, uh… got an important call… from work. Something about the project we’re working on. It’s no big deal but I better go home and fix it or my boss will be angry, you know?” he laughed as he took his backpack and put it on his shoulder.

“I… Alfred, you…” Arthur tried, but Alfred just smiled again and placed a quick, soft kiss on his parted lips.

“I’m sorry. I really need to go. I’ll text you later, okay? I promise. We can do something later… like tomorrow, I dunno. We can talk about it, okay? But I gotta go now.” Alfred said.

Something was off. He smelled weird, tense… he was tense, wasn’t he? Arthur wanted to ask what was wrong, he wanted to give Alfred his phone back, but Alfred’s smell was so _tense_ it was making Arthur tense as well, so he just stood there and nodded as Alfred left.

Once the door clicked close Arthur took a deep breath and looked at the phone he was still holding.

He didn’t know what to do.

He put Alfred’s phone on the coffee table and sat on the couch, staring at it.

He almost jumped when, about half an hour later, the phone started buzzing on the table. Arthur got closer to it and saw that it was Emma calling again.

Arthur gulped, but still didn’t touch the phone. It was better to wait a little longer. Maybe Alfred would notice he had forgotten his phone and come back from it. Besides, Arthur really didn’t want to pry on his life like that.

Amelia came from her room then, holding her notebook and a pencil, “Alfred, can you help me now? Uh… where’s Alfred, dad?”

“Alfred had to go home.” Arthur informed with a small smile as Amelia climbed the couch to sit on his side,

“Aw… but he said during dinner he was going to help me with my math homework…”

“I can help you with your homework.” Arthur offered.

Amelia pouted, “Alfred is more fun. Why did he leave?”

“He said he had something important to do.” Arthur smiled a bit, taking her notebook to check what she was having trouble with,

“Nothing is more important than my homework…” she pouted again.

“Yes, I’ll remind him of that next time he comes here.” Arthur said, pinching her cheek, “Okay, I know I’m not as fun, but let me see if I can help you.”

It turned out Arthur was able to help Amelia with her homework and they finished in less than twenty minutes. After that, Arthur told her to go play in her room for a bit before going to bed, which she was very happy to obey.

By then Arthur was sure Alfred wasn’t coming back for his phone, and he was waiting anxiously for it to ring again. He was worried something might have happened to Alfred’s sister, even if he didn’t know her.

So the next time she called, Arthur picked it up. He accepted the call and placed the phone on his ear. He was about to explain that it wasn’t Alfred speaking when a loud, angry female voice yelled,

“Fucking finally, Alfred! God, I’ve been calling you the whole fucking day, you asshole, you could at least have sent me a text or something, instead of ignoring me like a spoiled brat! What is wrong with you?!”

Arthur felt his heart beating really fast. He felt guilty for invading Alfred’s privacy like that.

“Uh… Hi… this is Arthur.” he explained quietly, “Alfred left his phone here…”

“Oh” Emma said, sounding embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have picked up, but you were calling constantly and I thought maybe it was important…” he explained.

Emma sighed.

“It’s okay, I’m sorry you had to hear that. Alfred is not there then?”

“No, he left an hour ago… he said he was going home… he didn’t?”

There was a huff this time.

“No and I’m sure he won’t come today” Emma said, “Ugh, listen, if he shows up again, tell him to fucking call me, please?”

“Oh, sure…” Arthur said unsure. “Uh… actually…” he said before he could stop himself, “Do you know where he might be? I’d like to return his phone… and, uh… he was acting a bit strange today, so I…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, he’s just being a brat, he’ll be fine.” Emma said with a lighter tone this time. Still, how could Arthur _not_ worry? Something was wrong. Emma added after a moment, “But if you want to return the phone, he’s probably at Ivan’s.”

Arthur had no idea where _that_ was.

“Ivan’s? It’s a… restaurant? I don’t...”

“Oh, no, no. Ivan is Alfred’s best friend. I can give you the adress if you want.”

Arthur tried to remember that name, but at least at the moment, he couldn’t. He remembered Alfred mentioning a best friend here and there, but not a name.

He took a small notepad and a pen from the coffee table’s drawer,

“Yes, please, I’d like the address.” he said.

He wondered if he was doing the right thing.

He was sure there was something wrong with Alfred, but since Alfred had refused to talk to him about it he wondered if he was doing the right thing in going after him. Still, something inside of him was telling him that if it was the other way around, Alfred would definitely go after him.

So he knew what to do.

 

* * *

 

“Will you at least tell me why you’re here?” Ivan asked. He was sitting on the couch by Alfred’s side, watching Alfred play. Alfred had chose the first game he could find that had a gun in the cover. Turns out it was a zombie game. Which was cool, Alfred liked those. He wished Ivan would just play with him instead of making questions though.

“I told you,” he answered, “I had an argument with my sister.”

“You have arguments with her all the time.” Ivan pointed out with a small smile, “Yet you don’t show up _all the time_ with a bottle of vodka and asks to spend the night” Alfred rolled his eyes as he continued, “It’s a weekday you know, some of us have work tomorrow.”

“Well, I just brought vodka because I thought you’d drink with me.” Alfred rolled his eyes. His character was being cornered by a bunch of zombies and he was almost out of ammo.

“As I said, it’s a weekday.”

“It was no excuse before.” he grumbled.

“It is now. We’re not in college anymore.” Ivan answered. Alfred felt his eyes on him but decided to ignore them. Then he sighed, killing as much zombies as he could and then making his character run away from the rest. He took his glass of vodka with Coca-Cola and took a sip. He hated the taste of that. He took another sip.

He never really liked alcohol. He used to drink socially in college because he wanted to look cool, and mixing Coca-Cola with vodka made the taste bearable. Ivan was the one who told him he could do that, as much as he himself hated the taste of the mixture.

Despite their differences and early high school rivality, they had grown to be good friends. Sometimes Alfred even missed seeing Ivan everyday.

“Hey, what happened to your _roomies_ , it’s so quiet here.” Alfred asked to drive the subject away from himself.

“They moved out.” Ivan said.

“What, really?”

“Yeah, they started dating each other and decided to rent a place for themselves.”

“Huh, you must be lonely then…” Alfred commented as casually as he could, although he was personally interested then.

“Yes, but I’m cool.” Ivan said with a shrug.

“Aren’t you looking for a new roommate?” Alfred asked, eyes on the TV screen, “I mean, this place is huge, rent must be expensive, right?”

“Yes, but no.”

“What?”

“Yes, I’m looking for a roommate, but no, I don’t want _you_ as a roommate.” Ivan explained.

“What.” Alfred finally looked at him, pretending to be shocked, “I didn’t say _I_ wanted it.”

“Uhum, sure, but I’m telling you anyway. I don’t want to share my space with another alpha, especially not with you.” he smiled.

“Hey, I’m a great roommate!” Alfred tried to defend himself.

“Shouldn’t I ask your sister that?” Ivan asked, eyebrows raised.

Alfred pressed his lips together, not liking where that was going. Maybe he shouldn’t have stepped in that subject to begin with.

“Why did you two fight?” Ivan asked. He was kinda smiling and Alfred hated it.

“I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” Alfred pouted, staring at the TV.

“Okay. How is it going with you and your boyfriend, then?”

“He’s not my boyfriend yet.” Alfred mumbled. He thought about how he had practically ran from Arthur’s place and wondered if he still had any chance of becoming Arthur’s boyfriend. He had been awful. Arthur needed him and he couldn’t stop thinking about other things. And on top of that he had left his phone there and now he was too embarrassed to go pick it up. Gosh, he was ridiculous. Maybe Arthur deserved someone better…

“Did you fight with him too?” Ivan asked.

“No, we’re fine… I guess. He’s been going through a lot lately and I want to help him but most of the time I just don’t know how…” Alfred sighed.

“I told you dating someone with a kid was a mistake” Ivan commented casually and Alfred rolled his eyes.

“Shut up, Amelia is adorable, she’s not a problem at all.” Alfred answered honestly. Amelia was the second most adorable child he’d ever met — just after Matthew, of course. Nobody could beat Matthew in adorableness.

He was going to say more about how smart and fun Amelia was when the doorbell rang. Alfred looked at Ivan in surprise.

“Maybe it’s Natasha” Ivan thought out loud as he got up to open the door. Alfred groaned.

“Oh, no, she hates me! Why didn’t you tell me she was coming?!”

“She comes whenever she feels like it. It’s nobody’s fault but your own for trying to date my sister.” he shrugged.

“I didn’t try to date her, I invited her for prom once, in high school. She said no.” Alfred rolled his eye and sank in the couch. God, he didn’t want to face Natasha at the moment. He had come to Ivan’s place to run from everything, to just have a quiet night with his friend.

He heard Ivan opening the door and speaking to someone. The voices were too distant for him to understand anything. Instead of the sound of footsteps however, Ivan called from the front door:

“Alfred, come here!”

That was suspicious. Alfred squinted his eyes at the TV, but didn’t move.

“If it’s my sister, just tell her I’m not here!” he yelled back, aware that if it was his sister she’d be able to hear him just fine too.

“It’s not your sister, jerk, just come here!”

“Is it _your_ sister?”

“Just _come_.”

Alfred groaned, paused the game and got up. He walked down the hall towards the door and when Ivan stepped to the side, Alfred’s heart almost stopped when he saw who was there.

It was Arthur.

It was Arthur, cute, gorgeous Arthur wearing a jacket a bit too big for him and a black scarf and with the tip of his nose pink. He had his arms crossed, kind of hugging himself, and he looked so out of place and uncomfortable.

What was Arthur doing there?

“Arthur?” Alfred asked, “What are you doing here?”

Arthur looked up to Ivan, then back to Alfred. Alfred knew that Ivan could be intimidating at times, and he was glad when Ivan said,

“I’ll just go back inside.” and then did just that.

“I’m sorry.” Arthur said after they were left alone. Alfred saw him gulp, “I, uh… You left your phone at my place, so I…”.

Alfred watched as Arthur took his phone from his jacket pocket and handed it.

Alfred blushed. He was so embarrassed he looked to his shoes as he took the phone and just shoved it in his pocket without even looking at it.

“Oh… thanks.” he said quietly, a million things in his head. He couldn’t help but wonder what Arthur was thinking of him, but he couldn’t be sure because Arthur was wearing a scarf and his scent was barely reaching Alfred. He was glad Arthur was wearing a scarf when going out at night, but he wished he would take it off now so Alfred could understand him better. Honestly, Alfred was bad enough reading people when he could smell them, without it he was just… awful. He honestly didn’t understand how betas managed to talk to people on a daily basis. “But… how did you find me here?” he added.

Arthur looked even more uncomfortable.

“Well… You sister called your phone, and I… ended up picking up. I’m sorry. I thought it might be important, since she was calling constantly… So I asked her if she knew where you might be.”

That made sense. Still, he was a bit annoyed at his sister for calling so much. Couldn’t she get a grip? She’d been calling all day and it was clear Alfred wouldn’t pick up, so why couldn’t she just quit and give him some space? Ugh.

When Alfred looked up he noticed a slightly hurt expression on Arthur’s face and noticed that Arthur could still smell how Alfred was feeling and that he probably thought that annoyed scent was directed to him.

“Thanks, Artie. Really.” he forced a smile, “I, uh… well, I can’t drive you home cuz I drank a bit, but, uh… I can call a taxi for you.”

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine.” Arthur said fast, maybe too fast, Alfred wasn’t sure. He sounded hurt, though, and it hurt Alfred, too. Then Arthur said something Alfred wasn’t expecting, “... are you okay?”

Alfred blinked. He then smiled and friendly scoffed,

“Hey, don’t I look okay?”

“You don’t, actually.”

Alfred looked down with that. He really wasn’t as ‘ok’ as he wanted to be, but he honestly didn’t want to bother Arthur, of all people, with those things.

“Uh. It doesn’t matter, okay? I’m sorry. It’s probably just because I was drinking and my head’s spinning a bit… we should talk tomorrow, okay? You should go back home before it’s even late. Wait. Where is Amelia?” Alfred hurried.

“She’s with my neighbor.” Arthur said, hugging himself tightly, “You know, you can talk to me. About things.”

Arthur looked up and their eyes met. For a few seconds Alfred couldn’t do anything but stare, because Arthur was sounding so serious about it. At that moment it seemed to Alfred he had went all the way over there just to say those words, just to remind Alfred that he could talk about his problems too, and it was… overwhelming. Because right at that moment Arthur had so much going on for him. He had had a terrible day, he was so stressed about losing his job, and there was that thing with Amelia’s father… he had so many problems and Alfred felt terrible to make him worry about one more thing.

Alfred smiled and this time his smile was honest. Kinda sad too, though.

“No, I can’t. I shouldn’t. I can’t stress you with my stuff.” Alfred sighed, “You already have too much going on. I shouldn’t put even more weight on your shoulders. I’m fine, I can deal with it.”

“I feel like that’s all I do to you, lately.” Arthur said quietly, “I’m always stressing _you_ with my problems. I could deal with them alone, too, and yet…”

“But that’s not…”

“Let me finish.” Arthur asked with a sigh, “I was just thinking people, friends… they share things. And if I share my things with you, I…” Arthur sighed, stopping for a moment to put his thoughts in order. Alfred decided to give him time instead of jumping with the first words that came to his mouth, “I don’t know much about you.” Arthur added, looking down, “You always act like you care about me,”

“I do care about you” Alfred said, unable to stop himself, and Arthur smiled, nodding,

“... and you’re always doing things for me, but you never talk about yourself, I mean… you do talk about things you like and all that, but never really… about yourself, and your problems and well… I don’t ask… I guess… I’m too caught up in my own problems… I’m sorry.” he looked up at Alfred and he thought Arthur was done, but apparently he was not, for he kept talking, “But honestly? I could deal with my things alone but it’s so much easier having… being able to talk to you. It makes me feel more calm. I feel like… nothing is as awful as it seemed at first. Then… you can talk to me too. Because, you know, I may not act like that as you do, but… I care. About you, I mean.”

Arthur looked down and Alfred couldn’t help but to smile a bit at how pink his cheeks were. But then he sighed, looking to his side.

He really didn’t like to talk about his problems with Arthur. Alfred was aware of how much of a mess he was, and he had been doing his very best to show Arthur the best side of himself. Deep down he feared Arthur wouldn’t like him if he was to show his flawed side.

Yet…

He really liked Arthur.

He had thought Arthur was just cute at first, but he had grown to like his personality, his company, his sense of humor, his… everything. And there were flaws in that everything, and Alfred didn’t mind them. He didn’t mind how Arthur nagged at him sometimes about silly things, like putting his feet on his coffee table or not drying the dishes right, and he didn’t mind those things because they were part of Arthur and Alfred liked Arthur.

So maybe…

If Arthur liked him too, he…?

Maybe it was asking too much, but Alfred decided to try anyway.

“My sister…” he started, and he could feel Arthur’s eyes on him, “I had an argument with my sister. An ugly one. You know she’s been dating someone from another state, right?” Alfred said, and looked at Arthur in time to see him nodding, “Well, she’s been dating this guy for a long while, and now she wants to move in with this person. As in, bring this guy to live with her. Which means she wants me to move out. I mean, she _suggested_ I move out, but it was clear what she _wants_. And I don’t want to move out. So we had an argument.”

Alfred sighed, slipping his hands into his pant’s pockets. He kicked the ground even if there was nothing to be kicked.

“I know it’s lame… but I like that place, I’ve always lived there, and I don’t want things to change, not right now. I want to move out eventually, duh, I don’t want to live with my sister forever, but I like how things are right now, and I like Matthew too, and my routine… I’m just mad with this change.” he paused for a brief second, listening to the echo his words left and suddenly he felt really ridiculous. He was so upset about all that and all that was just… stupid. So stupid. Alfred was feeling his face warm as he kept talking, “I know it’s _nothing_ and _ridiculous_ compared to what you’re dealing with… so I didn’t want, you know… to bother you. I mean, honestly… I look at you and I see someone so strong, someone who’s been dealing with a lot of shit and still keeps going, and I admire you and I like you.” he confessed.

He didn’t plan to say that last part, but the words just left his mouth before he could stop them.  

“Alfred…” Arthur started. Alfred was feeling really embarrassed and kind of sad, so he allowed himself to speak more. Maybe he’d say something smart or nice.

“And like… I’m not as strong and I’m not as cool as you are and I’m sure you must see that too... Like, fuck, I’m an alpha, I should be better, but I’m not. My parents always spoiled me I guess, and after they died my sister’s always spoiled me too. And like… She pays most of my bills, I’m not very good at my job, I don’t have many friends, I don’t know… I don’t know how to be a functional adult like you can.” he said and he realized that none of that was helping him in any way. In fact, he was just making himself look worse. Yet he couldn’t stop because all of that was true and maybe Arthur should know that. Maybe it wasn’t fair to keep that from Arthur, “And I’ve been trying to be better... because I want to be someone who you think is worth being by your side, but…”

“Alfred…” Arthur said again and he sounded closer, but Alfred didn’t dare look up. His eyes were itching and he knew he might cry if he did. And how uncool would that be? Not to mention the fact that he was an _alpha_. Not to mention the fact that the person right in front of him was someone who had been dealing with so, so much more than him. It felt wrong to be so upset about something so trivial when Arthur was standing right in front of him, strongly holding so much more. Alfred should be hugging him and helping him out with whatever he could help, instead of feeling bad about himself.

“Sometimes I just think I’m not worth it…” Alfred sighed, trying not to sniff.

So it really took Alfred by surprise when Arthur hugged him.

Alfred stopped right there, eyes open wide as Arthur’s arms held him firmly. It was kinda weird because it was not something Alfred was expecting, but it was very much welcome. So Alfred hugged him back firmly too.

For a moment they just hugged each other in silence. Alfred didn’t know what to say. Since they were so close he was able to sniff Arthur’s neck and he was sure Arthur was not angry or upset at him, which was a good sign. Yet he didn’t know what Arthur was thinking until he spoke.

“It’s okay.” Arthur said quietly, “Nobody is perfect, you know. I still think you’re cool. Actually, the reason… one of the reasons I like you is because… you’re so soft and a bit spoiled. You always say what you’re thinking… even when you spam me with messages when we’re texting. I like how kind you are… and even when you’re awkward.”

“That… happens a lot so I’m glad.” Alfred managed to smile, holding Arthur really close and not wanting to let him go.

“You can tell me things.” Arthur added, “Just because I have worse things going on it doesn’t mean your bad things are not there as well. My problems don’t invalidate yours, you know?” Arthur explained after some thought, “Actually, maybe I can even help you. Like you said, I’ve been dealing with _a lot of shit_ and I know how to deal with these adult things. I can help you out. Maybe my problems can even make solving yours easier.” Arthur said. He made an effort to break the hug apart and Alfred let him even if he didn’t want to. Arthur looked at him with a soft smile and it was so precious Alfred almost cried.   

“Arthur, you’re so…” Alfred sighed, touching Arthur’s cheek with his thumb and looking deep into his green eyes. “Listen… is it an appropriate moment to say the l-word?”

Arthur’s cheeks reddened. Alfred wanted to kiss them.

“Uh… I… I don’t know. Maybe?” Arthur answered. He didn’t sound sure.

“Okay.” Alfred nodded. He was feeling so much… lighter. He was relieved Arthur didn’t walk away right at that moment and he was glad Arthur didn’t think less of him. Alfred was having trouble identifying all the feelings inside of him, but he was glad. He was so glad with the ways things were moving for them. “I’ll keep it for a better moment then.” he decided, “Thank you. For coming to bring me my phone.”

“No problem.” Arthur answered, again with that sweet smile.

Alfred caressed Arthur’s cheek calmly with his thumb. Then he leaned forward and kissed him.

Arthur’s eyes widened and then were closed. Alfred could feel his hands holding on to his hoodie. He could smell that Arthur wanted that kiss and nothing could feel better than that.

He loved Arthur.

And he loved to know Arthur was still willing to give him a chance.

The kiss was very sweet, and calm and caring. Arthur sighed when Alfred put his hand on the back of his neck and Alfred smiled against his lips.

The kiss didn’t last long. Alfred ended it and touched Arthur’s forehead with his own for a moment.

Arthur was smiling a bit and Alfred smiled too.

Then it hit him.

“Oh my god.” he took a step back, covering his mouth, “I’m so sorry I was drinking vodka with coke just now… this kiss must’ve tasted _terrible_ , oh shit, I’m sorry!”

Arthur honestly chuckled at that.

“It’s fine.” he said.

“Agh, I’m sorry…” Alfred sighed, cheeks pink as he avoided looking into Arthur’s eyes, “I’ll brush my teeth for next time.”

“Alright.” Arthur nodded.

“Alright, then… it’s late… I’ll call you a taxi. Tomorrow…” he hesitated, “Tomorrow we can lunch together? It might help you pass the time and… we could talk more, if you want. About things.” he suggested.

“Oh. Ok, I’d like that.” Arthur agreed, “I can help you think about what to do, about… moving out.”

Alfred nodded, “Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Oh, and Alfred?”

“Yeah?”

“Please call your sister. She… seemed worried about you.” Arthur asked.

Alfred sighed and rolled his eyes, but he knew it was true.

“I know. I’ll text her.” he promised.

“Okay, good.” Arthur answered.

“Let’s go then.” Alfred said as he took his phone from his pocket with one hand and took Arthur’s hand with the other. His heart was racing. Arthur held his hand firmly and Alfred felt like his chest could explode.

He smiled to Arthur and they walked down the stairs together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! Gosh, this chapter was huge... I hope you guys liked it! I wanted to introduce more of Alfred and I wasn't sure how to do it... I was torn between just writing everything in Arthur's perspective or this... you guys have no idea how much time I wasted thinking about what would be better... lmao. In the end, I think this works. I was able to show more deeply Alfred's perspective of things. Anyway, please!! tell me what you think of this chapter! it will make me super happy!! 
> 
> Oh, and also!!! MayumiSato and I are writing an usuk omegaverse fic together. We posted it this week. It's hurt/comfort and I can assure you that if you like Plan B, you'll like that one as well! ;3 so go check it out! 
> 
> Cya soon!


	15. Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone...!  
> Finally...!   
> This chapter is not as long as the previous one and it took a lot and I'm sorry. Still, I worked hard on it so I hope you'll all like it!   
> Thank you so much for your nice comments!!! They mean a lot to me and I always tear up when I read them. ;; 
> 
> Oh, and before I forget!!   
> I changed the name of chapter two! It was "facebook" before and it was reaaaally bothering me for a while now, lol, so I changed it to "online"! 
> 
> OH AND ALSO. @China_xiuzi here at ao3 is translating PB to Chinese??!! That's so cool.
> 
> [Here's the link if you want to check it out!](http://ladys-kirkland.lofter.com/post/1efaeb8a_110eba4b)
> 
> And that's it, I guess! I hope you like the chapter! Please let me know what you liked/didn't like in it! cya!

Arthur checked the time on his phone, then looked around as he put it back in his pocket. He had arrived about five minutes earlier. It was lunch time and the streets were crowded, so he tightened his scarf around his neck. Some people were looking towards him when they passed, which was making Arthur feel weird and self-conscious. He regretted his clothing choice and told himself he should have sold those clothes a long time ago.

“Artie!” he heard Alfred say and the voice was embarrassingly quick to soothe Arthur. He blushed a bit as he turned to face Alfred’s bright and happy smile. He smiled as well, even if Alfred’s smile was accompanied by the dark circles and pale skin of someone who hadn’t slept at all the previous night.

Alfred hugged him close and placed a quick kiss to his cheek before letting go. Arthur wished Alfred would kiss his lips instead, but that wasn’t something he was comfortable to say out loud just yet. Even if after the last night he was feeling more… comfortable and even eager for those contacts. The previous night, between Alfred calling a taxi for him and he texting Alfred he had got home safe… Arthur had came to a conclusion that had changed something inside him. He wasn’t sure _what_ it had changed, but the conclusion was that he… wanted to have something with Alfred, because he… he really liked him. In a more than friends way. And it was so clear to him now, clear as the sky was that afternoon, clear as Alfred’s clear blue eyes.

And maybe he wasn’t in love just yet, but he wanted to allow himself to be.

And it was such an overwhelming realization. He had avoided alphas for so long, he had ran and hid and avoided his needs and wants for so long that this realization felt like jumping in cold water - but during a summer break, nothing to worry about except not forgetting the sunscreen.

“Did you wait too long?” Alfred asked once he parted the hug.

Arthur shook his head,

“No, I just got here.”

“Oh, good!” Alfred smiled and then looked Arthur up and down and up again. His smile seemed larger when their eyes met again. It was embarrassing.

“What?” Arthur asked defensively, crossing his arms in front of him.

“Nothing! It’s just… well, you know… I’ve ever just seen you wearing pajamas or stay-at-home clothes or like… the daddiest clothes that ever dadded. I’ve never seen you wearing something like _this_!”

Arthur blushed a bit more.

He looked at himself. He was wearing black skinny jeans, a pair of boots he was always wearing, a rock band shirt, an oversized jacket and a red scarf. And most of those he hadn’t used ever since… ever since he was in college. Because once he found out he was pregnant, he knew people would look down at him for being a young, unmated omega with a child. So he needed to do everything he could to pass unnoticed and not have people judging him too much. Which meant he should get himself clothes that made him look a bit older than he actually was. At the time he sold most of his clothes to buy new (second hand) ones, but... He ended up keeping a couple of his favorite outfits. And that was one of them. He just thought... Since he was going to go out with Alfred, maybe... for once he could wear casual clothes and just have a normal lunch with the person he liked? And maybe not worry too much about everything he had to worry about. That would be nice.

But what he said was,

“What do you mean? I’m not the one who wears pink polo shirts. That’s the daddiest clothing there is.”

Alfred laughed at that,

“Hey! They are nice and confortable, okay? And I need to wear clothes that at least look a _bit formal_ for work. That’s what my sister says…” he shrugged, “Besides, that’s alpha and beta dad look. The omega dad look is dress shirts under sweaters or sweater vests, and pants… and before now I’ve never seen you wearing anything else outside your apartment.” Alfred pointed and Arthur chuckled.

“Well, I’m a dad after all.” he answered.

“Yeah, true. But it’s nice to see you in clothes like this too! They look good on you. I mean. Not that the other ones don’t… I’m just saying… you look good with these too.” Alfred said and his cheeks became pink and it was adorable. Arthur nodded,

“I got it.”

“Good! Then! Shall we go grab something to eat? I’m starving.” Alfred grinned, pointing to the McDonald's in front of which they were standing.

“Of course. I just thought it was an odd place for our first date.” Arthur smiled. Alfred’s cheeks became really red then, and he stared at Arthur in disbelief.

“W-wait. This is not our first date!” he explained, “I mean, not yet, right? This is just… we’re just going to discuss things… I want to have a proper, romantic date with you once you’re not stressed about your job. So we can relax and have a good time. That’s what I was thinking…”

Arthur blinked, then looked down.

“Oh.” he whispered. He was feeling really warm, that butterfly-anxiety in his chest. He was comfortable with the idea of dating Alfred, but it was true it still made him anxious, especially when he already was feeling super anxious about his job and his future and what to do if something went wrong. It was… it was really good to see Alfred wanted to take it slowly too. It made him feel a bit more relaxed.

He had had nightmares the previous night, a mix of fears and bad scenarios. To be close to Alfred, to feel his sweet scent and to know he was in the same page as he was… it was relaxing.

And then he smiled and nodded, because he agreed. They should have a proper date once they both didn’t have so much on their minds. Right at that moment, it should be just… the two helping each other, talking and venting.

“Okay, then. Let’s go grab something to eat.” Arthur agreed and Alfred smiled, that bright smile of his.

“Let’s!” he smiled.

“Alfred! Hey, Alfred, hold on!” a voice Arthur didn’t know called. He turned to see a group of two males and two females whose types Arthur couldn’t tell from that distance. The man who had spoke continued, “Why did you ditch us if you were gonna come here anyway?”

“Oh, uh…” Alfred shrugged, “Well, because this is the restaurant closest to the office… but I wanted to have lunch with Arthur.” he said. And then he turned and put his arm on Arthur’s shoulder, bringing him closer. Arthur was caught by surprise and stiffened. It didn’t last long, though, because Alfred’s scent was calming and kind, “This is Arthur, by the way.” Alfred looked at him, “And Artie, those are my coworkers. I can introduce you guys later. We should get going now! Right, Artie?”

“Uh, yeah, we should. Nice to meet you.” he waved awkwardly at Alfred’s coworkers. Strangely, they looked a bit stunned. Seconds later Alfred was guiding him inside the restaurant and they were placing their order. Alfred ordered two combos of one of those huge hamburgers and Arthur went with a chicken sandwich. Onde they had their orders, they went upstairs and took a booth by the window, where they sat across from each other.

It was a bit awkward at first. Arthur wasn’t sure what to say, so he said,

“So… your coworkers know about me.” he smiled. Alfred nodded,

“Yep. I ended up talking about you, I mean, we know each other for almost a year, right? So of course I ended up talking some stuff… they sent a text a few minutes ago, while we were waiting for our food.” he informed, hooking his phone up from his pocket and opening the text app. He showed the screen to Arthur, “They were shocked because you didn’t look like a ‘a dad at all’ and then there’s some interrogation marks.”

“It’s because of the clothes.” Arthur replied.

“Yep, I guess so?”

“Now they probably think I’m an irresponsible father. That’s why I don’t dress like this anymore…” Arthur ended up with a small smile and he almost jumped in his seat when he felt Alfred’s foot kicking his lightly.

“Hey, you’re a great father, Arthur. Just because they were surprised to see you look super hot in skinny jeans, it doesn’t make you a bad dad! Amelia really loves you and you do everything for her.” Alfred’s smile was warm and genuine and it made Arthur smile as well.

Still his cheeks were burning.

“I… look hot in skinny jeans?” he asked. Alfred’s cheeks got red too and he looked away.

“Well, yeah, I mean…”

Arthur was the one to kick his foot lightly this time.

“Thanks.” he said quietly. Alfred smiled and kicked Arthur’s foot back. It was such a childish thing to do, but it felt strangely intimate to play like that and Arthur had nothing to complain about.

Not much longer than that Alfred checked his phone and then put it back in his pocket.

“You know… I texted my sister yesterday.” he informed, eating some of his french fries.

“Oh. That’s good, Al.” Arthur smiled at that.

“Yeah. I’m going home tonight after work, you know, I have to work some extra hours and stuff, but after that I’m going home to talk to her… I guess I was kind of an asshole so I need to apologize. I’m gonna buy pizza for us and everything.” Alfred explained. He looked a bit confused and a bit sad, and Arthur remembered the previous night, the way he cried, the way they hugged tight. He wanted to reach for Alfred’s hand to squeeze it, but since Alfred was holding his food he touched Alfred’s foot with his own, kicking it a bit.

“I’m really glad you two are going to work things out.” he said.

Alfred looked up to him and he smiled. And he had sauce in his cheek and Arthur couldn’t help but to laugh at that.

“W-what?” Alfred asked, confused, and Arthur simply pointed to his own cheek. It was enough to make Alfred understand and he looked away, quickly cleaning himself with a tissue. His scent spiked with embarrassment and it was adorable.

“Anyway…” Arthur said to make Alfred see he didn’t think less of him even if he was a messy eater, “As I said yesterday… I can help you with flats if you want.”

“Oh, about that!” Alfred exclaimed, “I couldn’t sleep last night so I was checking some places… But it’s all so confusing… there’s so many options… like… I found this building, you see. And it had like, this two apartments, and they were _exactly_ the same. The same number of rooms and everything. But one of them was for omegas and the other was for betas and the omega one was _way_ more expensive than the beta one?! Like… what.”

Arthur laughed a bit at that.

“Why were you looking for omega apartments?” he asked.

Alfred shrugged, “I was just checking everything because I didn’t know what to look for, I mean. I’m an alpha, so I should look for alpha places… but… but there’s you. When you come visit, won’t it… you know, make you uncomfortable?”

Alfred’s scent was sweet and caring and worrying and it made Arthur shift in his chair, heat increasing in his chest and making a small smile pop up in his lips.

“I’ll be fine visiting your place. But… you really don’t know about the differences? They teach that in high school, don’t they?” Arthur asked.

“Yeah, but those classes are just mandatory for omegas, the rest of us can take it just if they want to. And in my school it didn’t look good for alphas to go to those classes, so… I didn’t...” Alfred explained. He seemed a bit embarrassed at that and Arthur shook his head.

“I get it. Well, the main differences are heating system, soundproofing and odorproofing. Omega homes need these three things, so they are more expensive. As for alpha places, they need good air conditioning systems and sometimes odorproofing, if your scent is _too_ strong. So beta homes are the cheapest because they don’t really need any of those things.” Arthur explained patiently, “I mean, homes for alpha/omega couples are even more expensive because they need all sorts of equipments… but for now, I think you could save some money by renting a small beta apartment and equipping it with your own AC. You have one in your room, right?”

Alfred nodded,

“Now that I think about it, your apartment is a beta one, isn’t it?” he asked.

“Yeah. It is. I live in a beta building. Most of my neighbors are betas. My apartment has an omega room though. Which means… it is odorproof. I was told it was soundproof too, but I can hear my neighbor watching TV from my room, so… it’s really not. But it’s never been a problem to me since I always spend heats alone…”

“But it doesn’t have a good heating system either, right?” Alfred asked, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, no. I bought a small heater when I moved in. I always said I wouldn’t live in that place for long anyway, but… I’ve been living there for almost seven years now.” Arthur sighed.

“Why… why didn’t you move? You should live in a better place for your type.” Alfred was quick to ask. He seemed really interested and really worried about that subject.

“I know. But you saw how omega homes are expensive. Besides… It’d be extra hard to find a place to someone like me.” Arthur said, looking down at his half-eaten sandwich.

“What do you mean?” Alfred tilted his head to the side.

“Al, I’m a single father. I don’t have a mate. I barely manage to pay my bills with my salary. Do you know how hard it was to find an apartment in the first place? Nobody wanted to rent to me.” he sighed, “I was lucky to find such good place to begin with. I was lucky to… to find that job to begin with, too… if I lose it…”

“Look, even if you do lose it, you’ll be fine. Because… because you’re not alone now, are you?” Alfred said with a warm smile and he held Arthur’s hand and Arthur didn’t flinch even though it was a bit greasy, “You have me. And you can come live with me if you want. And I can help you out while you look for a job. And I can be your mate, and I can…!”

“Al, wait. Wait, no… you’re… you’re thinking too far ahead… that’s… it’s too early to think about these things…” Arthur stopped Alfred, because it was a bit scary how serious he smelled.

“I, I know, I’m just saying… you’re not alone, so… you’ll be okay.” Alfred said, squeezing Arthur’s hand. He was so sweet.

Arthur placed his hand on top of Alfred’s and nodded.

“Yeah. I’ll be okay.” he said, even if he wasn’t so sure.

Alfred’s scent was sweet and loving and it filled Arthur with hope. It was a bit scary how good it made him feel. He then kicked Alfred’s foot playfully to lighten the mood. It seemed to work, for Alfred kicked him back and the two of them chuckled.

After that lunch went well and Arthur felt much lighter. Arthur wished he and Alfred could go and take a walk in a nearby park, but Alfred checked the time in his phone and almost jumped when he saw what time it was.

“Shit, I gotta run. My boss is gonna kill me if I’m late. I’ll text you later, Artie. It was really great to lunch with you.” he said hurriedly.

“It was good seeing you too. I, uh… text you later?” Arthur said, a bit unsure.

“Yes, do that! I’ll text you later too. Have a good day. Try to rest a bit. Everything’s gonna be ok!” Alfred said with a smile and finger guns and a wink and Arthur smiled.

Alfred then quickly got up and leaned forward, holding Arthur’s cheek to give him a quick kiss. Arthur blushed in surprise and it was amusing to see that Alfred was blushing too. They smiled to each other and then Alfred was gone.

Arthur sighed in his seat and ended up smiling to himself.

He… really liked Alfred.

* * *

 

The following day was finally time for Arthur to go back to work. He barely slept that night, even after receiving good night texts from Alfred, and even after reading his texts saying he was home and had talked to his sister. He had said, “Things seem okay. She doesn’t seem to hate me too much.” Which was good.

Arthur rolled in bed all night, and when he slept it was restless. He ended up getting up one hour before his alarm, and decided to prepare a nice breakfast for them, with pancakes and orange juice. He then woke Amelia up with kisses and tickling because to hear her laugh made him feel better. After that, Arthur helped Amelia get dressed and brushed her hair, then watched her eating breakfast happily.

“How is it?” he asked.

“Some parts are burnt,” she said honestly, holding a pancake with her fork, “But still good.”

“Hey!” Arthur protested, pinching her nose.

On his way to work Arthur got a few texts from Alfred wishing him good luck. Alfred sent some photos of some random dogs to make him feel better, which was honestly kind of helpful.

By the time he got to work, his heart wasn’t beating so desperately anymore. Everything was… strangely normal. He left his bag in his locker and stood there for a minute, not knowing if he should go to the front desk right away or if he should go talk to his boss… in the end, he decided to do the latter. He took a deep breath before knocking at the door.

“Come in.” his boss said.

Arthur stepped inside hesitantly.

“Hello,” he said, “Uh, I… Just wanted to let you know I’m back. From the… the couple days off…”

“Oh, Arthur. Welcome back!” his boss said, and he was so cheerful it made Arthur gulp, “How are you feeling? Did you rest?”

“Y-yes, sir. I’m fine. Thank you. And… I’m really sorry for the trouble… I…”

“Did that man try to reach you again?”

Arthur shook his head, “No, no he didn’t. He won’t come here again, I promise.”

“That’s good.” his boss nodded, “Just make sure not to discuss your affairs in the front desk next time, yeah?”

“Yes, sir!” Arthur agreed as fast as he could. His legs felt a little weak but he tried not to let it show.

“Well, then. You can go now.” his boss smiled and Arthur nodded, leaving only after thanking and apologizing once more.

He almost fell down once he closed the door, his body shaking in relief.

He hadn’t lost his job.

He was fine.

Arthur walked towards the front desk after washing his face in the restroom, and on his way there one of his coworkers stopped him,

“Hey, Arthur, you okay? I heard what happened.”

“Yes, I’m fine, thanks. I’m sorry for all the trouble.” he smiled politely.

“Nah, it’s fine. Hey, someone sent you some flowers yesterday. We put it in some water. There was also a card. We left it there.” she pointed to a table in the common area where there was a vase full of colorful flowers. There was a envelope under it.

Curious, Arthur walked there and took the envelope, which was still sealed. He opened it to a small, handwritten message,

 

“ _Dear Arthur,_

_I’m sorry for the inconvenience I may have caused you. I heard Richard is going back to his town today, so he won’t bother you anymore._

_Thank you for helping me not make a mistake._

_You seem like a good person. If you ever need a friend, my number is xxxx-xxxxx_

_Best,_

_Sophie_ ”

 

Arthur blinked, and then smiled.

He took his phone and sent Sophie a quick, polite thank you for the flowers. He then sent another quick message to Alfred, to let him know he was fine. And then he took his place at the front desk.

His phone buzzed with a text and he couldn’t help but discreetly check it out. It was Alfred’s. It said,

 

**Alfred:** I’m so happy for you, Artie!!!! Let’s go on a proper date next time to celebrate!!!  <3 xoxo

 

And it made Arthur smile the entire morning.


	16. Happy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone!! This update took a bit less than a month, congratulations to me! :D  
> I hope you all enjoy it. This one was fun to write, even though I did struggle a bit. 
> 
> Just a reminder: I'll be kinda (really) busy now for November, so the next update may take a bit longer, but I'll do my best. Please wish me good luck, haha

Saturday was the day they chose for their date. Their _first_ date. Arthur was sweating nervous but also excited. He hadn’t had a date in ages, he didn’t even remember anymore what people did in one.

“Daddy, are you okay?” Amelia asked. She was sitting with her back to Arthur as he brushed her hair, her little feet swinging back and forth and not touching the floor.

“Of course I am, honey.” Arthur said with a smile, kissing the top of her head.

“You smell weird.” she added. She used to say Arthur smelled weird whenever she couldn’t tell what he was feeling. Usually it meant his heat was close, but in that case, it just meant Arthur was excited to go out with Alfred. He smiled to himself, a bit embarrassed at how he was so not used to that type of emotion even his daughter could notice it in his scent.

“Do you want me to wear perfume?” he asked her, but Amelia quickly shook her head.

“No, it’s a good weird.” she explained, and Arthur nodded.

He also thought so.

* * *

For their date, Alfred would come pick Arthur and Amelia up and they would drive to Alfred’s home, where his sister would take care of Amelia and Matthew. The two kids really loved their playdates, and since Emma had invited her boyfriend over instead of going to visit him, she was more than happy to take care of Matthew and Amelia. And while the kids would be with her, Arthur and Alfred would go to a quiet and romantic picnic at a park, just the two of them, eating sandwiches, chatting, gazing into each other’s eyes and allowing themselves to swim in the feelings they were developing for each other.

At least, that was the plan.

Alfred had just arrived at Arthur’s apartment and Arthur didn’t even had time to greet him when his phone started to ring. Alfred asked for a moment and picked it up. Arthur watched with amusement and slight worry Alfred’s expression change from cheerful to worried and then annoyed.

Alfred sighed when he finished the call, and Arthur was quick to ask,

“Something wrong?”

“Unfortunately, yeah. My sister got an emergency call from the hospital, she has to go there, so… she can’t stay with the kids. She’s driving here to let Matthew with me.” Alfred explained with a frustrated sigh.

“Oh.” Arthur said.

That meant they wouldn’t be having their first date after all. It was a bit disappointing, since Arthur had been feeling really excited for that. After all the stress of thinking he’d lose his job, he really wanted to relax doing something fun and different with Alfred. Of course, he had felt more and more calm as the week progressed, but there was still that idle anxiety in him, making him worry and feel tense.

With the weekend, Arthur was sure that those feelings would be put aside once and for all with the help of Alfred’s sweet and caring scent, and he had longed for that moment almost childishly. So of course it was a bit disappointing to know it wouldn’t happen.

However…

“Maybe we could still have our picnic, but with the kids? It won’t be the same thing, but it’ll still be fun, won’t it?” Arthur suggested.

Amelia, who had been quietly sitting on the couch watching TV, quickly turned her head with a bright smile,

“We’re going on a picnic?!”

Alfred seemed to think for a moment before he smile brightly and nodded, turning to answer Amelia,

“Yes! We’re all going to a picnic!”

“Yay!” the little girl said cheerfully, getting up from the couch to give Alfred a hug. “Picnics are fun, we never go on picnics! Thank you, Alfred!”

Arthur couldn’t help but smile, watching Alfred picking up a giggly Amelia and making her spin in his arms. That was the most adorable thing, Arthur thought, feeling his cheeks heating up.

“I’ll make more sandwiches then.” he said, and Alfred put Amelia down to help him out.

Within a few minutes, their picnic basket was ready to go again, this time with extra sandwiches. Arthur had packed a couple apples, juice and water together with the sweet snacks Alfred had brought. By the time Emma arrived with Matthew, Arthur had already helped Amelia change into more comfortable clothes for her to be able to run around with her friend in the park, and they all took the elevator to Alfred’s car.

The drive was cheerful, with Amelia and Matthew chatting happily in the backseat while Arthur constantly turned to check on them. There was a pop song playing on the radio, and Alfred was telling Arthur about the project he was working on.

“So on top of that, the program crashed when I was almost finishing. I could have died at that moment, Artie. If I had lost all my progress, I’d have died.”

Arthur laughed,

“You should save those things more often, you know.”

“ _I know_ , I just forgot. It was four in the morning.” Alfred sighed loudly.

“I’m glad everything turned out okay, though.” Arthur smiled at him, a small smile and a brief eye contact as they stopped in a red light, “Did your boss like it?”

“Yes!” Alfred grinned, “She didn’t praise me much since I was late and all, but she did send me a happy emoji so I think that’s a good sign?” Alfred shrugged, “But well, I don’t wanna think about that now. I just wanna enjoy my afternoon with you.” he said, and then looking by the rearview mirror, he added, “And with the kids, of course.”

Arthur nodded with a smile. The light turned green and they kept on driving.

It was a beautiful day. There were hardly any clouds on the blue sky, and the sun was shining brightly. Arthur was glad he had brought sunscreen, and he helped Amelia put on her cap when they got out of the car. It wasn’t Summer yet and the sun was not that hot, but he wanted to make sure his little girl was protected. He applied sunscreen to her limbs and face, making her laugh with tickling along the way. He also applied it on Matthew, and the little boy smiled amusedly when Arthur poked his nose once he was finished.

“Do you want me to put sunscreen on you too?” Alfred asked Arthur.

“There’s no need for me to put it.” Arthur shook his head.

“No need?” Alfred raised his eyebrows, and Arthur shrugged. Alfred took the bottle from Arthur’s hand, “Come here, it’s not just the kids who need it.” he said.

Arthur rolled his eyes, but didn’t protest. He allowed Alfred to take the cream and put it on his cheeks and forehead. It was cold, and Arthur’s nose wrinkled a bit. Arthur was looking at Alfred in the beginning, only Alfred was looking at him with such intense, concentrated blue eyes that Arthur felt a wave of heat coming up from his insides and he had to look away.

There was something really charming in the way Alfred was looking at him, and Arthur couldn’t look at him for too long without having his legs go weak.

Then, Alfred caressed his cheeks a bit longer than was necessary and Arthur closed his eyes, feeling his skin hot against Alfred’s warm fingers.

Finally, Alfred’s hands let go of him and Arthur opened his eyes in time to see Alfred getting close and placing a small, quick peek on his lips.

Their eyes met and both of them blushed.

“You’re all set.” Alfred said quietly. Arthur nodded.

Alfred applied the sunscreen on himself as they walked, Arthur carrying the picnic basket and smiling to himself.

There were other couples and families with their own picnics in the park, yet it was not hard for them to find a good spot nearby a large tree. Amelia and Matthew placed the tablecloth on the grass, which unfortunately wasn’t the red and white pattern associated with picnics but rather an old, pink tablecloth Arthur had laying around for a long time.

With the tablecloth down, Arthur and Alfred placed the basket on the ground and laid their food around. It was a very nice view. The kids sat around them and Alfred handed them sandwiches and poured them juice.

There was a quiet breezy from time to time, messing their hair and making the leaves rustle. It was nice. Arthur looked at Amelia, sitting next to Matthew and stealing bites from his sandwich while Matthew clearly didn’t mind it at all. Then he looked at Alfred, who was looking at him. Their eyes met for a second, and all Arthur could think at that moment, at that quiet, warm afternoon moment was that he was happy.

He was happy.

It was weird to think so, but he was, and when he smiled there were small tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

“Daddy, can I play with Mattie?” Amelia asked, tugging on Arthur’s clothes.

“Oh, yeah, honey, of course. Just stay where I can see you, okay?” Arthur answered, and Amelia quickly got up and held Matthew’s hand, pulling him away.

Alfred chuckled with the sight, waving to his nephew as he waved away.

“They get along so well.” he commented.

“I feel bad for Matthew sometimes, Amelia is always pushing him around.” Arthur answered, shooking his head. He watched with the corner of his eyes as Alfred moved closer and shyly placed a hand on his shoulder. Arthur bit his lips, feeling tense, unsure, but finally he managed to rest his head against Alfred.

He could feel in Alfred’s scent that he was a bit tense as well, but Arthur kept his head there and slowly both of them relaxed, their bodies getting used to each other. It was really nice. Arthur moved his hand to touch Alfred’s, and for a few more moments they sat there in silence, watching the kids running after each other.

“Arthur, I…” Alfred started, but instead of continuing, he _screamed_. He screamed and pushed Arthur away.

“Alfred, what the fuck?” Arthur asked in confusion, getting back to his feet and watching as Alfred waved his hands in the air and stepped back.

“There’s a bee!” he squeaked, and then he let out another small scream, “There’s _lots of bees_!”

Arthur could barely see the bees, and Alfred looked so honestly scared, all Arthur could do was sit down on the grass and laugh.

“Don’t laugh! Bees are mean and you can’t kill them!” Alfred said, sounding hurt. Arthur tried to stop laughing, but Alfred squeaked again and Arthur found himself laughing again, too.

“They’re just here because of the food, Al.” Arthur said, rubbing his eyes.

“Well, then help he put the food away!” Alfred exclaimed, and Arthur nodded, helping him clean everything so the bees would go away. Alfred still screamed a couple times because of them and Arthur laughed again.

Finally, with what had remained of the food put back in the basket, Matthew invited Alfred to play tag with them. And of course Alfred tagged Arthur and made him run after them, laughing as Arthur struggled to go after any of them and then tickling Matthew when he finally catched him.

By the end of the afternoon, they sat down in the grass to eat ice cream Alfred had bought for them, the kids all sweaty and the adults just not as sweaty as them because they didn’t run as much. It had been truly a fun afternoon. Arthur didn’t remember having ever had laughed so much and felt so much at peace.

By the time they were back in the car driving home, Arthur still had a soft, happy feeling surrounding him.

“You smell really good.” Alfred told him as he drove. Arthur blushed and looked away,

“You too.” he answered, and Alfred smiled cockly.

  


* * *

  


Alfred’s phone rang when Arthur was opening the door to his apartment. He had a large smile in his face when the call was over and he entered the kitchen with a cheerful smile.

“So, Matt, what do you think of a sleepover with Amelia?” he asked his nephew, and the beta child’s eyes went wide and were followed by a large grin.

“Can we, uncle? That’s cool!” Matthew said.

“Of course, I mean,” Alfred said, looking up to face Arthur, who had a dish cloth in hand and was eyeing Alfred suspiciously, “Can them, Arthur?”

“Uh, I guess? They could sleep in my bed, I don’t have an extra mattress.” he said thoughtfully, but Alfred shook his head,

“No, that’s not it. My sister was released from the hospital, so she called asking me if I want her to take care of the kids. I mean, so we could watch a movie, just us?” he said, raising his eyebrows.

“Oh.” Arthur said, surprised and blushing a bit. He hadn’t considered that. He was thinking there was no way for them to have their date after all, and to be honest, he had nothing to complain because that day had been really fun. “Do you want to, Amelia?” he asked his daughter, who immediately jumped and nodded.

“Yes! I love being with Mattie, it’s super fun!”

One hour later, Emma passed by and took both kids to her house, where they would have a fun sleepover.

And Arthur and Alfred were left alone.

“So…” Arthur asked, hands on the back of his couch, “Do you want to watch a movie?”

“Yeah, it would be nice.” Alfred answered, approaching Arthur and hesitantly placing a hand on his cheek, “What do you want to watch?”

“Something funny. Maybe with bees.” Arthur chuckled and Alfred pecked his cheek.

“No way we’re watching Bee Movie, Arthur.” he said, very serious.

“I didn’t mean that, but if you want…” Arthur laughed.

“Stop.” he rolled his eyes, “I’ll pick something.”

“Okay,” Arthur nodded, and he sat down on the couch and watched Alfred as he browsed by his old DVD collection.

“Hey, look, it’s that flashdrive I brought once, with movies for us to watch while the kids were playing! I had forgotten it was here.” Alfred said, waving the flashdrive around.

“It’s full of action movies, isn’t it?” Arthur rolled his eyes, “Okay, pick something.”

Alfred picked one very cliché, very explosive movie, one he had watched at least two times already.

That’s why in the middle of it he was looking for Arthur’s hand and grabbing it, kissing it absent mindedly as the movie went on. And Arthur rested his head against Alfred’s shoulder, allowing his hand to be kissed, allowing Alfred to show affection.

“Artie?” Alfred said eventually, and Arthur moved his head to look at him.

“What is it?” he asked.

But instead of saying anything Alfred placed a hand on Arthur’s cheek and looked deep into his eyes. They looked at each other for a few seconds, waiting for something, for each other, and then they were kissing, the action explosions in the movie fading to their ears. They kissed slowly, calmly at first, Arthur placing a hand on Alfred’s shoulder as their tongues explored each other again, getting familiar with the warmth and welcomeness of each other. And once they were familiar enough and once Arthur’s scent was telling him he could, Alfred pressed his body against Arthur’s, making him lay down on the couch.

Arthur sighed, but kept his eyes open. He wanted to see Alfred while Alfred kissed his lips and made his way down to his neck, kissing his exposed skin and making Arthur moan.

The sound took both of them by surprise, and Arthur quickly covered his mouth. His face was all red. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had heard such a sound come out of him. Alfred seemed pleased by that, however, and he kissed the hand that Arthur was using to cover his mouth.

Arthur could hear dialogue on the movie, but he didn’t care.

“Do you want me to stop?” Alfred asked. His scent didn’t smell like he wanted to stop. In fact, his scent smelled like Alfred wanted to devour him. And to be honest, Arthur really liked the tingling feeling on his body that smell caused him.

He shook his head.

“We can do it.” Arthur said, “I… I’d like to do it.” he said, even though he was feeling self conscious of the fact he wasn’t wearing nice underwear and that he could use a shower. But somehow it didn’t seem all that relevant now because, well… He wanted Alfred. They had tried that before for practical reasons and it hadn’t worked, but Arthur had a feeling that now, with kissing, with the way he sighed whenever he looked at Alfred for too long… he had a feeling it would work out.

“I’d like to do it too.” Alfred said in a low whisper, a small smile on his lips. Arthur reached for the back of his neck and pulled him closer for another kiss, a more passionate one this time. Alfred placed his knee between Arthur’s legs and he moaned once more. His body was sensitive, too sensitive. And it was weird. Alfred was barely touching him and yet he was feeling goosebumps and there was an almost obvious boner in his pants.

He gasped when Alfred left his lips to kiss his neck again, his breathing all over the place. He felt a hand slide past his shirt and touch his skin underneath and, god, he wanted to spread his legs to better accommodate Alfred between them, but he couldn’t do it on the couch.

“Alfred… Alfred…” he whispered, “Let’s go to bed.” he asked, grabbing Alfred’s shirt.

“Okay.” Alfred said eagerly, and he was fast to let go of Arthur to get up. The ghost of his presence against Arthur’s body made him shiver, only he didn’t have much time to think about it because soon enough Alfred was picking him up. He let out a small squeak of surprise when Alfred did it, carrying him like a prince would. Arthur quickly passed his arms around Alfred’s neck, scared he might fall even though he was sure Alfred wouldn’t drop him.

Alfred rushed to the bedroom while kissing Arthur here and there, the TV left turned on.

In their hurry, Alfred bumped Arthur’s head against the bedroom door frame.

“Ouch.” Arthur yelped, and Alfred was fast to apologize.

He put Arthur on the bed and got on top of him, “Oh, god, I’m so, so sorry, Artie, does it hurt?” he asked hurriedly, but Arthur just shook his head with a small laugh,

“I’m fine, you dork.” he laughed, pressing a hand against his forehead.

“You sure?” Alfred said, kissing Arthur’s cheeks and forehead over and over again, “I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to hurt you, it’s just, I really want you, and I…” he bit his lip and Arthur gulped.

“... Say that again.” Arthur asked, looking back to Alfred. Their eyes met. Alfred’s blue eyes were shining, his scent all over Arthur.

“I want you.” Alfred repeated, and then he kissed Arthur’s forehead again, then his cheek, then the other, his lips, his neck, his jaw and lips again, “I really want you.”

Arthur moaned, grabbing Alfred’s shirt and pulling him close. He was feeling warm, hot, out of breath. He pushed Alfred away to take off his shirt, and he watched as Alfred’s eyes scanned his frame with curiosity and need, stopping by his pant’s waistline. He knew what was there, and he looked away, suddenly feeling embarrassed and weird. Alfred touched his scar with the tips of his fingers, tracing it. Arthur gulped, closing his eyes.

“You’re gorgeous, you know.” Alfred said then, which made Arthur open them. He looked at Alfred, deep into his eyes, and Arthur knew he meant it. He smiled a bit.

“I don’t mind you saying it.” Arthur answered, looking away.

“So I’ll say it more often. I… you went through so much, and I admire you.” Alfred added. Arthur felt his eyes watering.

“You too.” Arthur answered.

“Huh?” Alfred said, leaning closer to Arthur to kiss the corner of his eyes, “What about me?”

“You’re gorgeous too.”

Alfred chuckled, “Thanks.” he said, “Here, I’ll take off my shirt for you.” and then he did just that. Arthur couldn’t help but stare.

Alfred was really handsome, and Arthur could feel his scent all around the room, his pheromones making Arthur gulp and swift his position in bed, his mind wanting to beg for Alfred. And Alfred probably could smell it on Arthur, because suddenly he was smiling and kissing Arthur again, his hand eagerly feeling Arthur’s skin.

“There’s… there’s condoms and lube in the nightstand…” Arthur pointed, and Alfred nodded. He reached for them and placed them on the bed. Arthur took a deep breath. That was happening, for real that time. He and Alfred would… they would do it.

And then Alfred’s kisses were back, going from his neck and making their way down, to his nipples and even down his chest, belly, stopping a bit at his scar and being followed by a quiet “You’re so beautiful…” before Alfred slowly pulled down his pants. Arthur bit his lips but his eyes went wide when he noticed Alfred’s kisses were still going down.

“... w-what are you doing?” he asked Alfred, gulping.

“Can’t I? I just thought… It’s been so long since you did this, right, so… we don’t really need to go all the way right away. We can take our time.” Alfred said.

Arthur felt such warmness inside him, he didn’t even know what to do with it.

He nodded.

“Okay.” he said.

He rested his head against the mattress again and closed his eyes when Alfred started to kiss his erection over his underwear. And then he blushed.

“M-my underwear is really ugly, so… you can, uh… take it off…” Arthur whispered, covering his face with his arm.

Alfred nodded, and slowly but surely did what Arthur had asked. His breathing was heavy and with his eyes closed he almost moaned to just feel Alfred sliding the cloth down his legs until it was out of the way. Arthur noticed he was only wearing socks then and it made him want to shrink down and hide, but soon enough Alfred’s warm hands were on his legs, making their way up to his waist again, and it made Arthur relax and shiver.

And then Alfred was opening the condom package and sliding it on Arthur’s cock and their eyes met one last time before Alfred closed his and started his job.

  


* * *

  


Alfred was fast asleep, his breathing even and slow. Arthur could feel it against his skin, he could feel Alfred’s arms loosely looped around his frame, and it felt so weird and yet comforting. He couldn’t remember the last time he had allowed someone to see him in such a vulnerable position, naked and sleepy, and now that he was living that moment, it felt so… good. His body was relaxed, happy, light. He closed his eyes and felt them watery.

They didn’t go all the way. That is, after Alfred finished his blowjob, and after Arthur took almost five minutes to get his head working again, Alfred asked him if he wanted to continue. Arthur did want to feel more of Alfred, and yet he was tired, his body craving more of all of those pheromones and yet not wanting anything else but to sleep and rest. So instead of answering, Arthur crawled to Alfred and used his hand to release him, having Alfred kiss and bite his neck as he did it.

And then they collapsed in bed and Alfred wrapped Arthur in a warm hug, whispering sweet nothings to his ear.

“I love you.” he had said. And then he was asleep before Arthur could answer.

Everything was quiet then. There was a light background noise, some cars on the street or maybe the TV, but it was so distant and so irrelevant, and it somehow added to that peaceful moment. Arthur and Alfred, laying down together, skin against skin and Alfred’s scent soaking Arthur’s sheets, body, soul.

It was sappy, yes, but it was true. Alfred had stained Arthur with his scent, with his being, and there was no going back from it. It was not the sex, not only that. It was the feelings.

There was no denying Arthur was falling… had fallen already, maybe, in love.

And it was okay.

Because one year before Arthur couldn’t even _try_ to imagine himself with anyone, let alone an alpha, and now he was falling in love with one. Life had changed his plans again, but this time he wasn’t mad.

Because at that moment, everything was so peaceful, everything was looking so bright, he was so happy…

“What could even go wrong now?” Arthur thought to himself, his eyelids too heavy to be kept open for any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK SO WHOEVER GUESSES WHAT WILL GO WRONG WILL GET A DRABBLE. ;)  
> GIMME UR GUESSES (yes, "nothing goes wrong" is a valid guess)


	17. Text

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> H-hello, everyone... I took like, double the time to write this... (sweats) Sorry. As I said in the notes of the previous chapter, I was pretty busy with uni, so I couldn't write sooner... sorry for the long wait right after a clifhanger, LOL  
> And yeah, I hope you like this chapter!  
> I said in the ending notes that I'd write a drabble for whoever guessed what would happen, and welp, a few people guessed right, so...!!! I'll write the drabble for the first one because I got so many other things to do (sweatsss)   
> But yeah, I managed to post this before Christmas, yay! This is the last update of the year, and I'd like to thank everyone who's been commenting and supporting me. Thank you, thank you a lot!  
> Merry Christmas and happy holidays, guys. I hope 2018 is a better, kinder year to all of us.  
> See ya!

 

If someone was to ask Arthur if he was happy, he would be completely honest when saying that yes, yes he was happy.

Before, he still had some doubts as to how he felt about Alfred, if he just _liked_ him or if he was falling in love, but now he was sure. He wouldn’t say he _had fallen_ in love, not just yet, because he was still Arthur Kirkland and Arthur Kirkland was very doubtful and very careful when it came to his feelings, but he also would not deny that he was _falling_ in love. Because he was, he was falling in love with Alfred, and it made Arthur very happy.

It had been a long, long time since Arthur had felt so peaceful and so content with his life. He loved his daughter, he _had_ been happy with her for most of the time they lived alone, but there had always been that bitterness in him, that pain, that lonineless. He loved her with all his heart, but there were still some things that he needed; some things that his daughter could not provide him.

But that Alfred could.

Arthur knew, and he believed in it, that an omega did _not_ need a mate to live their life in the fullest. For years he lived like that, and if he had so many negative feelings inside him, it was not for the lack of a mate. It was because of how Richard left him when he most needed someone, because of how his family shut him out, because of how society as a whole made him feel ashamed, and because he had been forced to leave everything, every dream and hope behind.

And those things had not changed - but Arthur had. He had been opening up the walls that he had built to protect himself from the world, and in doing so he found Alfred. He found a friend. And in the process of putting his walls completely down and allowing himself to trust someone again, an _alpha_ of all types, he also managed to start healing his wounds. And in doing _that_ it became easier for him to feel happier, to not hesitate in saying that he was happy. To be able to trust someone again, to know that he was able to do that - it brought Arthur happiness.

And of course, there was the whole thing with hormones and pheromones as well, there was no denying it.

It felt good. It felt good to have a protecting, caring alpha around him. It felt good to have Alfred kissing him hello and goodbye, it felt good to hold Alfred’s hand and to be the center of his attention, to talk to him about his troubles, and to help Alfred out of his own. It also felt really good to have sex with him.

Ever since they first did it, three months had gone by. Those months passed both really fast and really slowly. Arthur was aware of every day he was with or without Alfred, and still the whole thing passed by with a blink. And in that time, they had sex a few times. Not many times, because Arthur felt weird in asking his neighbor to babysit Amelia so often to _do that_ , and he would never do something like that when she was home; the walls were too thin and he would never risk having his sweet little girl hearing… that. Still, they did it a few times, and it was _good_. They went all the way in the second time, and Arthur had honestly forgotten how good it felt. His body felt Alfred for an entire day afterwards, and demanded him again for many others. In addition to that, there was also a lot of kissing and make out sessions. Arthur loved those, he loved how tenderly Alfred would hold him, as if he was very precious and very important. He loved how sometimes he would open his eyes while kissing, and he would see Alfred’s face, his brows slightly frowning, his cheeks pink, and his heart would beat faster because he knew he liked Alfred, and he knew he wanted to be with him.

During those three months, Arthur helped Alfred find a place for himself. It was a beta apartment, like Arthur had suggested. It was small: just one bedroom with a combined kitchen and living room, but it was much more comfortable than Arthur’s apartment. Besides, the building was located downtown, and it had a small little balcony from which you could see the sunset.

Arthur went over once Alfred had moved his stuff inside. The place was still a mess with cardboard boxes all around, but the furniture (there wasn’t many at the time, just what Alfred had and what his sister gave to him as a gift) was all in place. Arthur gave Alfred a small potted plant.

“A roommate for you,” he had said with a small smile, “Don’t forget to water her once a day.”

“I’d rather a dog roommate,” Alfred had replied, taking the orange pot in his hands and giving Arthur a forehead kiss, “But thank you.”

“Well, yes, if the plant survives for a month, then you can consider a dog,” Arthur had laughed.

Two months later, the plant was still alive and well, but Alfred had decided he should wait a bit longer before he adopted a dog.

“I have other priorities right now,” Alfred had said, “So the dog will have to wait a little longer…”

Arthur was proud to see him holding on like that. In the first two weeks, Alfred called and texted him _a lot_ about the silliest things. He had been used to living with someone doing the most chores around the house for him, and he was struggling a bit with some things.

“Artie, how the _fuck_ do you fold elastic bed sheets… I’ve watched tutorials but I just _can’t_ do it… help me…” he called once.

Some other time he texted, “Artie… cleaning bathroom… how??? Help”

And it was amusing to Arthur to get those messages and it was even more amusing to help Alfred out. But most of all, it made him proud to see how Alfred was getting more independent and mature. It was obvious that it was hard for him, but that he was doing his best and evolving in the process. And the more Arthur saw that, the more he experienced Alfred’s growth, the more his chest got warmer when they were close, the more he wanted to help Alfred and to be around him.

“Someday I’m gonna be married and I wanna help with the chores, you know,” Alfred said one evening, when they were watching a movie at Arthur’s place with Amelia and Matthew playing on the floor. Alfred had his arm around Arthur, who hummed quietly at that commentary. He tried to look cool, but his heart was beating too fast and he couldn’t stop thinking about how much he’d enjoy sharing chores with Alfred in that context. And Alfred probably noticed that in his scent, because he brought Arthur closer and kissed his cheek, a smile on his lips.

Since Arthur’s sexual life had gained the status of _active_ , he decided he should go see his doctor. He didn’t like the idea of having to face the smugness in Francis face, but he also knew the man knew everything about Arthur and that explaining all that to some other doctor would be too tiring. After his previous heat, Francis had told him that he needed to be with an alpha for his next heat or it would be even more painful than the previous one had been. At the time, Arthur had decided in staying alone for his heats, and had asked if the situation would be less painful if he had sex with an alpha _before_ his next heat, if the pheromones would stay with him and soothe his needs.

That had been the plan: he’d have sex with Alfred before his heat and stay alone for it because he didn’t want to have anyone seeing him in his most vulnerable moment. However… he wasn’t so sure anymore.

He had grown to really, deeply like and trust Alfred; he had grown to want Alfred. And as time passed he was starting to daydream about how it’d be to have Alfred with him for his heat, taking care of him, fucking him…

It always made him blush, to think those things. And it also made him anxious. He still had doubts, and he still had fears, but he… he wanted to try. He wanted Alfred.

So… he needed to talk to Alfred about it.

The thought haunted him for a couple days before he could gather courage to do it. And obviously, when he sat Alfred down on his couch to “talk about something,” Alfred became nervous as well.

“Did I do something wrong? Will you break up with me?” he asked in a haze.

Arthur quickly shook his head,

“No, I…” he took a deep breath, “Listen, it’s just… you remember that… when we first decided to sleep together, it was because…” he gulped, then Alfred took that opportunity to finish the sentence,

“Yeah, because you didn’t want anybody for your heat… I remember that. I’ll stay away from you during your heat, Artie, don’t worry!” Alfred smiled brightly, looking and smelling more relaxed. Arthur smiled at that, but shook his head,

“I’ll take tests soon to see how my hormones are, but…” he gulped. He felt his heart pounding, fast, really fast, too fast, making his body shake, “I, uh… I’m… I just… I wanted, for my heat… I wanted you.” he said in a quiet whisper, and Alfred blinked.

“You want me… to be with you for your heat?” he phrased it better, slowly.

Arthur nodded,

“I just… I’d like… if it were you, I think…” he looked down, then gulped again. He felt Alfred’s arms looping around his shoulders,

“Artie, that would make me so happy! There’s nothing I want more than to be with you during your heat! I mean, you know… I want to be with you always, but… for your heat it’d be, you know… really cool… and stuff.” Alfred blushed a little bit and Arthur chuckled,

“I know. I just… I want it, but I’m still kinda… scared…” he gulped.

Alfred nodded,

“I know. But listen… Get the best contraceptive pills you can get. Like, the best of the best. Don’t worry about the price. I can pay for that. I mean, it’ll be you taking them, but… I’m gonna be the reason why, so… it’s fair that I pay for them. So… you know? I know you don’t want more babies.”

Arthur nodded, and he really wanted to say that there was no need, that he could afford it, but… it was good to know that Alfred would do that for him. So he just nodded, and let Alfred hug him and hugged him back, a small smile on his lips when Alfred kissed his forehead.

“I’m excited,” Alfred said, “to take care of you.”

Arthur rolled his eyes,

“You’re excited to have heat sex,” he corrected.

Alfred faked a shocked gasp, chuckled, then said, “Ok, yeah. That’s true. Heat sex with _you_. Wow.” he hugged Arthur closed, kissing his face all over.

Arthur felt his chest warm and happy.

  

* * *

 

 

After that, and feeling much better, Arthur finally scheduled an appointment with his doctor. He took all the blood tests he needed, and then he had to wait for the results to come out, and then finally he was sitting in front of Francis in his office, with Francis checking his results on his computer. He had glasses on, on the tip of his nose, and he had a small, surprised smile on his face,

“Very well, Mr. Kirkland, as I can see here… your hormones levels are much better, compared to your last test… someone’s been doing his homework,” he had a smirk on his lips when saying that, and Arthur blushed and mumbled for him to shut up. Francis then laughed and shrugged, “Well, I think that this results indicate that there won’t be a problem in you being alone for your heat again, probably. I’d recommend you keep having sex, so you’ll raise your levels to a safer percentage, though.”

Arthur nodded, intertwined his own fingers on his lap and gulped.

“About that…” Francis looked up to him, eyebrows raised, “I will need contraceptive pills,” he said quietly, a bit embarrassed. He _knew_ Francis was going to say something funny, make fun of him in that way he always did, as if they were friends who knew each other for a very long time. They did know each other for a very long time, but Arthur didn’t think they were friends.

Instead, Francis only raised his eyebrows more, then smirked briefly, then nodded.

“Of course. I know just the one to indicate for you. It’s really strong and has the lowest failure rate. It’s a bit more expensive, but…”

“It’s okay,” Arthur said with a nod, “As long as it works better…”

Francis smiled, softly, “It does. If you want, you can also come here when your heat is closer and take a shot to complement the pills. It may sour your scent a little bit, though. During the heat.”

Arthur nodded again, watching Francis as he wrote the prescription.

“I’m glad you’re doing this,” Francis said without looking up, “I’m glad you found someone you trust.”

Arthur blushed, then smiled just a little bit. He was glad, too. He was happy. He doubt anything could change that.

 

* * *

 

 

Arthur stared at the notification for a very long time. He had no idea what to do with it, what to think of it. He had had such a nice day. A nice day at work, followed by an even nicer homemade dinner with Alfred and Amelia, and nicest evening with Alfred after they helped Amelia with her homework and put her to bed. Then Alfred left and Arthur decided to check his phone before going to sleep.

And then he saw it.

He noticed that the notification was from four hours previously, but he didn’t know what to do with that information. His chest was aching because… for many, many years he had wondered, he had hoped, he had waited for any form of contact with his family. He had kept his profile public so they could reach him if they’d like, but at this point it didn’t occur to him that they ever would.

But now there it was, that _Allison Kirkland messaged you_ notification, and what could that mean? His parents voices echoed in his mind, the harsh words they had said to him when he most needed them, and then echoed also the sound of ignored phone calls, of him trying and trying to reach them until he finally gave up and decided to move on, until he realized he _had_ to move on.

And now, they were reaching for him. Or, at least, his older sister was. He tried to guess what it was that she might want.

He wondered if his parents had died. The thought fell on him like a slow and heavy weight, and he sat down on his couch, phone in hand, trying to decide what that thought made him feel. He wasn’t sure. He had resented his family for so long, but he was not sure.

After a long moment he finally gathered enough courage to click on the notification and read what his sister had said. It was a bit too short considering that they hadn’t spoken in years and Arthur felt disappointed. The disappointment was proof that the still cared and he hated to know that, but decided to just not think about it.

**Allison** : Arthur, I honestly don’t know how to start… it’s been too long, and I’m sorry. But I’m writing to you because our mother had an accident and she really really wishes to see you. We can pay for expenses, but please… mum really wants to see you. She’s sorry. She says she doesn’t want to die before seeing you again.

Arthur read it over and over and over again. He didn’t know what to do with it, what to think of it. He felt disappointed, he felt angry, he felt sad and he felt it all at once and it was too overwhelming for him, too much for him to bear. His hands were shaking when he tried to type a message. He didn’t know what to say. He was worried for his mother, but he was also angry at her for wanting his forgiveness only because she was at her deathbed. Then he felt awful for thinking it, and he covered his eyes with his hands.

Finally, he sent the best message he could think of,

**Arthur:** What happened?

And his answer came really fast. He wondered what his sister was doing up so late, and then he was struck with the oddness of wondering about his family and he felt tears in his eyes.

**Allison** : She fell. During her heat. She went to take something in the kitchen and she hit her head on the tile… it’s been a couple days and she’s still in the hospital, she also hurt her hip. Lately she’s been thinking a lot about you and now she’s really calling out to see you, she begged me to message you, so please… come see her. She really loves you.

**Arthur:** does she

Arthur had sent that in a way to mock that, sarcastically, because, _yeah, of course she loves me_ , because she had said mean things and then ignored him for the next seven years and now she _loved_ him? Yeah. that’s what he thought when he sent it, but as he looked at the message and as he saw his sister was typing, he started to question expectantly, _does she love me?_ And he hated how much he _wanted_ her to love him, he just… he hated it. He hated that after all those years, he still wanted them to like him, had been waiting for them to reach out, to talk to him, to… to love him.

**Allison:** She does. She regrets not bringing you home back then, she’s been saying that a lot. Me and Anna, too, we should’ve done something, helped our little bro. We’re sorry, Arthur. So please… come see mum.

Arthur read it a few times, dropped his phone as he sobbed, then reached for it, unsure, thinking, _So why didn’t you?_ But he didn’t send it because he really didn’t have any strength to argue. Honestly, he didn’t even want to argue. He just needed to think that through. He just… that was too out of the blue, too much…

**Arthur:** I need to think about it…

Arthur sent instead, and his sister promptly agreed, saying they could pay for expenses, that he should think about it and go as soon as possible, and Arthur didn’t even answer because he didn’t know what to answer and he didn’t know what to do and he just lied down on his couch, looking up and feeling his mind racing, memories flooding his head. He thought he was over all that, he thought his family wasn’t something he needed to deal with, but apparently he was wrong and he did not know what to do. He hugged himself, then, and wished Alfred was there to hug him. He knew Alfred wouldn’t know what to do either, but he knew Alfred being there would make him feel better. And for the moment it’d be enough. But it was late, and it would be unfair to call Alfred, so instead he sent him a text.

**Arthur:** Al, would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow as well? Hope you have a good night.

His answer took a few minutes, but it came, and it made Arthur smile a bit, which was all he needed.

**Alfred:** of course i want, babe!!!! I’ll be there. Have a good night you too. Dream about me  <3

Arthur hoped he would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! My birthday is in a few days and it'd be a great gift if y'all commented your thoughts on this chapter!!! I want to know what you think about what's happening, what's going to happen, what you love, what you hate... etc! :D
> 
> The first person to guess correctly was VivaDragnire!! Please DM me on tumblr (not-aph-england) with a prompt and I'll write it asap for ya ;D
> 
> Cya next year, guys!


	18. Flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! Here's the new chapter! :3  
> I hope you're all having a good 2018 so far!

When Alfred arrived that evening, Arthur didn’t hold back and gave him a tight hug. He needed one. Alfred seemed to understand this, because he wrapped Arthur in his arms and kissed the top of his head, his scent telling Arthur how happy he was to be there and to be hugged that way; there were also some hints of worry there, but it only added to making Arthur feel safe and well.

“I missed you too,” Alfred said with a small laugh, patting Arthur in the back. Then his voice got a little bit quiet, “Did something happen?”

Arthur took a deep breath and nodded slowly. Then he gulped. Amelia was right there, playing with her toys, and Arthur did not want to speak of that when she was around. She was too small to understand everything, but she surely would understand _some_ things, and he didn’t want to give her any reason to feel anxious. She was so small. He needed to protect her.

“Uh, hey, sweetheart, can you go play in your room for a bit?” Arthur asked once he parted the hug.

Amelia looked up at him with squinted eyes.

“Why?”

“Uh, well… because…”

“I don’t mind if you kiss, I saw it before. I know adults do that a lot.”

Arthur blushed immensely. He always avoided kissing or showing too much affection to Alfred when Amelia was close because he felt awkward, even if he had talked to her about it and explained that he and Alfred were going out - in a very kid-friendly way. Here and there though he had kissed Alfred goodbye or hello when she was around — a quick peck on the lips, or even a small kiss on the cheek. He didn’t think Amelia would comment on it, though. Not… like that. She was so small. She was already seven, but to him she was still a little baby. And a little baby shouldn’t know about those things, even if she was an alpha.

“Your daddy’s not gonna kiss me,” Alfred said. He also seemed awkward, scratching the back of his neck and laughing a bit, “he just wants to talk to me about adult stuff.”

Arthur would have said that it was a bad move if Alfred had asked him, but it was too late.

“Like heat?” Amelia asked, curious.

Arthur blushed even further.

“Things like that…” he lied, and he hated to lie to her, but he also didn’t know what else to say, “I’ll call you when dinner’s ready, okay?”

Amelia sighed, pouted but agreed. Arthur helped her grab her toys and kissed her forehead before she could run to her room, the door slightly ajar behind her. Arthur knew she was doing that to hear what they were talking about, so he led Alfred to the kitchen.

“Is it really about your heat? Are you okay?” Alfred asked immediately, pulling out a chair for Arthur to sit. It made Arthur giggle, then roll his eyes.

“No, it’s not. It’s…” he sighed, sat down, looked down, grabbed Alfred’s hand, and then finally said it, “... it’s about my family…”

Arthur didn’t know where do start, or even if he wanted to talk about that. But he knew he needed to, because otherwise Alfred wouldn’t understand what was happening. So he took a deep breath (a few times), then showed Alfred the messages he had gotten from his sister. He explained the situation, how his family had left him on his own after he got pregnant with Amelia, and… as much as it was hard for him to start talking, once he did, it became… easier. He had never talked about his family before, and it was good to put it out of his chest.

“And now… my mother wants to see me. I just… I don’t know…” Arthur concluded with a long sigh, rubbing the corner of his eyes to dry some tears that were insisting in forming there. He didn’t want to cry about that — he had already cried so much. Why did his family deserve so many of his tears when they had never been there for him?

Alfred was smelling awkward again. He seemed like he wanted to say something, or do something, but everything in his scent and gestures suggested that he didn’t know what. And Arthur honestly appreciated the gesture. He slowly, and feeling embarrassed, moved closer to Alfred and rested his head against his shoulder, demanding a bit of physical comfort. Alfred immediately hugged him.

“So… what are you thinking? Would you like to go see her?” Alfred asked eventually, and Arthur shrugged.

“I don’t know…”

“Huh,” Alfred said, his nose touching Arthur’s neck just so slightly, “Your scent is telling me that you do.”

Arthur smiled a little bit at that.

“... I guess I don’t want to _want_ to go,” he mumbled.

“I guess maybe you should go anyway.”

Arthur didn’t answer at first. He just enjoyed the hug, staring at the void and thinking about going or not. He wanted not to care, but he did care, and he did want to be cared for and about, and…

“I guess maybe you’re right,” he said quietly, and Alfred kissed the top of his head. He took another deep breath, and then he asked, “Would it be too much if I asked you to come with me?”

Alfred hummed, thinking about it, and Arthur held his breath. He had told Alfred that his sister would be paying for all expenses (as much as Arthur didn’t like to have people paying things for him, he also did not have that much money, and if they wanted to see him, they would be paying for it), but he still feared Alfred wouldn’t want or be able to go for some reason. Instead, Alfred smiled and shook his head.

“Not at all, babe. I’d love to go.”

Arthur relaxed at that.

“There’s just one problem,” Alfred added.

“... What is it?”

“I’m kinda, slightly afraid of planes, so… You’ll have to let me hold your hand.”

Arthur felt himself tensing up and then relaxing in the span of a minute, and he wanted to punch Alfred and also hug him very hard. In the end he just rolled his eyes.

He also wanted to say _I love you_. It came to him so naturally the words almost left his mouth before he could stop them; but he did, holding them in in the last second possible. He wished he could just allow himself to be so carefree about his feelings, to just blurt out whatever it was he was feeling and thinking, and he hoped someday he would be — he hoped someday he would look at Alfred and think about how much he loved that person and he’d just _say_ it. As simple as that. Alfred was probably starting to notice the little hints of bitterness in his scent, so he shook his head and smiled:

“You’re such a dork. Of course I can hold your hand if you need.”

“Sweet!”

* * *

 

After talking to Alfred and before anything else, Arthur decided to talk to Amelia. After they had dinner that evening and Alfred left, Arthur helped his daughter get ready for bed and as she lied down and he tucked her in and kissed her forehead, he looked at her for a moment, watching her big, curious eyes staring at him, waiting for him to say something. She was so precious. Arthur loved her so much and it made his heart ache to think he couldn’t give her everything she needed or wanted.

“Sweetheart, would you like to meet your grandma?” he asked after a while, and Amelia’s eyes got a little bit wider, and she smiled. She seemed excited about it.

“But you said she lives too far away!” Amelia said.

Arthur felt his heart sink as he nodded.

Sometimes Amelia asked about her grandmother, or about her father, and Arthur never knew what to do.

He could play it safe and just tell her that they were dead, but it never seemed easy to him, because as much death as definitive and Amelia wouldn’t make any more questions or insist on that subject, he didn’t want to lie to his daughter and he also didn’t feel equipped to explain to her what death meant. So he just always said they all lived far, far away and they couldn’t go visit them and they couldn’t come visit either.

Amelia always pouted and said _We never can go anywhere!_ whenever they had that conversation, and Arthur always took her to the playground or to have ice cream whenever possible.

“She really does,” Arthur answered, “but she’s sick, so she wants us to go there and visit her. Would you like to go?”

Amelia nodded.

“Yes! I’ll make her a drawing so she can get better!” she smiled, trying to get off bed, but Arthur didn’t let her.

“You need to sleep first, you can draw tomorrow, okay?”

Amelia obviously didn’t like that solution, and tried to convince Arthur she needed to do that drawing right then, but to no avail — Arthur won the argument by saying he’d take her to have some ice cream soon if she behaved and went to sleep.

She called him as he was just about to leave the room.

“Will we meet my other dad too?” she asked. She was holding her blanket up, only her big eyes and her little fingers sticking out. She seemed anxious, excited, and it broke Arthur’s heart.

He went back to her bed and sat there, ruffling her hair with his fingers.

“Your… other dad lives even farther away than your grandma… so we can’t go see him.”

“... But if we’re going there can’t we go see him too? We’ll be closer...” she asked, full of hope.

“We can’t, sweetheart… I’m sorry…”

He saw Amelia sigh and look away, and it hurt. He didn’t notice he was crying until Amelia tugged at his shirt and said with a gentle voice:

“It’s okay, daddy, you don’t need to be sad… we can go some other time…”

Arthur hugged her, and apologized, and that night he fell asleep right there, hugging his daughter, trying to protect her from the world and most of all from the situation in which she had been born.

* * *

 

Before talking to his sister so she could buy their tickets, Arthur went to talk to his boss. He was nervous about it, and shaking a bit. He never asked for days off unless extremely necessary, even if he knew his boss would be understanding about it. After the Richard incident, he was feeling on the edge about everything he did. He wanted to be a good employee, and do everything even better than before, so his boss would _know_ he was reliable and then have no reasons to fire Arthur. And asking for days off didn’t seem like something he should do so soon, but… he had to.

It was tense. For Arthur’s part, that is. His boss seemed extremely relaxed and calm while Arthur babbled on and on and apologized to no end about having to ask for a couple days off, explaining why he needed it and assuring he would work double shifts to make up and everything else more he could think off. Meanwhile, his boss just chuckled.

“Arthur, it’s fine. You’ve been working here for ages. Go see your family, it’s ok. Don’t worry about it,” he said. And Arthur could have melted into the floor in relief. Instead he thanked a million times.

When his conversation with his boss finally ended, and he sat on the break room with shaking hands, he sent Alfred a text informing he had got his days off, and asking if Alfred had got his.

Their plan was to leave Friday afternoon and be back by Wednesday morning. It would be quite tiring, but it was better than Arthur’s initial idea to leave Friday afternoon to be back by Sunday evening.

As for Alfred, he hadn’t talked to his boss yet. She had been in a meeting, and Alfred was waiting for it to end so he could talk to her. He had been working hard too lately, doing his best to meet the deadlines and finish his work as soon as possible. Things had been a bit messy for him, living on his own, having to clean and cook for himself and try to figure out how to do those seemingly easy but actually hard chores. Arthur had been helping him a lot, and he was really grateful for it. He had no idea how he’d be holding up otherwise.

Alfred wasn’t the best employee there was, and he knew it. He got behind schedules more often than not, and he was usually late. But he always paid for those hours he’d missed, and he always did his best to deliver his projects in time. Truth was he didn’t care too much about that job. He had started there was an intern for extra money when he was studying, and then he got a full-time job after he graduated, but… it was not what he wanted to do with his life. He didn’t want to make ads forever, and honestly…

He almost dropped his mug when he saw his boss leave the meeting room, and he wanted to run after her, but he decided to wait for a bit before going into her office.

He decided to wait for ten minutes, and then he went there.

His boss didn’t seem all too happy about his days off.

“We’re not in a tight deadline right now,” Alfred explained, “And I have everything organized, I’m actually ahead of schedule for a change!” he said with a smile, “So me being away won’t disrupt the team in one bit… and once I’m back I can do as many extra hours as necessary and help with whatever is in need.”

His boss stared at him, then sighed.

“I can see it’s important to you, so I’ll agree.”

Alfred waited for her to say _but_ or something of the sort, but she didn't. She just looked at him for a few seconds more than necessary, then told him to leave. Alfred decided not to think too much about it, and messaged Arthur saying he was good to go.

Then Arthur messaged his sister, and worked the details with her. She got their tickets, and they got ready to go. Amelia was extremely excited about travelling by plane for the first time, and Arthur was happy to see her so happy about it. Still, as she was a child and he knew the long flight would tire and bore her, he got some coloring books and a few card games for them to play with. Alfred, for his turn, got some sleeping pills from his sister, so he would sleep and not be scared during the flight.

Going to the airport and getting into the airplane was stressful for Arthur. He felt sweaty and anxious, and he couldn’t relax. Amelia had fallen asleep in the waiting room, and Alfred was carrying her in his arms. They gave her the window seat so she’d see the clouds once she woke up. Arthur took the middle seat, and held to Alfred’s hand once they had their seat belts on. Alfred squeezed his hand, then kissed his forehead.

It would be a long journey.

“I never thought I’d be going back…” Arthur said quietly after a long time in silence, looking at the blueness outside his window. Amelia was still asleep, her head against his shoulder. He could feel his heart beating desperately fast inside his chest, and he felt like he could either melt or explode. “I’m scared.”

Then Alfred squeezed his hand, a soft smile on his lips.

“I’m scared too, but of the plane. But I know it’s fine because you’re here with me. And you’re fine too because I’m here with you. So it’s gonna be okay, right? That’s so cheesy… jesus.” Alfred chuckled a bit, and Arthur did too. He squeezed Alfred’s hand back and took a deep breath, closing his eyes and allowing himself to sink into his seat.

Alfred was right. They were okay. It was scary, but it was going to be okay.

Then, after what felt like forever, they finally arrived. Amelia was the only one who enjoyed the trip: she stared at the clouds, laughed and played with the flight attendants, made lots of drawings and colored many others. Alfred tried to sleep but failed, and tried to watch movies but they were all to boring or he was too antsy to pay attention to them - and Arthur wasn’t too different.

After all those hours, Arthur exhausted. He wanted to sleep in a comfortable and familiar bed (preferable in his own house), and he didn’t think he was ready to face anyone from his family. But he didn’t have a choice: Allison was waiting for them. He only recognized her when she stopped in front of him saying his name. She was so different, and her scent was so alien to Arthur. But as much as she had cut and dyed her hair, her green eyes were still as vibrant as they were in Arthur’s memories, and all he could do as stare at her.

“You must be Amelia…” she said to the little girl, who Alfred was holding on his arms and who was resting her head on his shoulder, sleepy. “You’re so big… it’s great to meet you… and you’re… Alfred, right? Nice to meet you, too.” she said to Alfred, who nodded and agreed. When her eyes went back to Arthur, he was still staring at her. “Thank you for coming…” she said, and then she sighed.

And hugged him.

Arthur wasn’t expecting it, and he almost stepped back. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I shouldn’t… have listed to dad. I hope someday you can forgive us, little brother.”

Arthur didn’t know what to say. He just kept staring at nothing in particular and, after hesitating, he slowly, awkwardly moved his arms up to hug his sister as well.


	19. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys!  
> First of all, I know this chapter took forever, and I'm sorry to keep you all waiting. So many things happened since the last update! ;;   
> The bigger issue is that lately my arms have been really sore and I had to take a break from writing to rest, I was out of my health insurance and couldn't see a doctor... phew. It's been a stressful couple of months. I finally managed to see a doctor last week and I'm writing much less now while I still don't have clear instructions on what I should do to heal. So I've been taking it slow. I've been writing MUCH LESS drabbles when I was used to writing like one every one or two days, and taking longer breaks and all that... I miss writing like crazy, aaa :') 
> 
> Anyway, here's the update, finally. I'll finish "Rebel Against the Law" (an interactive fic I started before I needed to take the Break (tm) and which you should totally check out!) this week and after that, I'll go back to monthly updates in Plan B. Or try to.
> 
> Please let me know what you think of this chapter!!! It really helps me keep motivated, and it means a lot to me. ;;
> 
> Happy (early) Arthur Kirkland Birthday/Day, btw!

 

Allison drove them home.

_Home_.

That was not a word Arthur associated with that house anymore, and it felt alien to hear so. It hadn’t been a home for him in a long time, and even when he thought back to when it _used_ to be one, he wasn’t filled with nostalgia or longing. When the car stopped in front of the light blue house, something heavy and cold sank in Arthur’s chest. The house was exactly like he remembered it — even the lonely swing by the old oak tree was still the same. Memories of his childhood flooded his mind, and he could only feel sadness and a pinch of anger.

He didn’t miss the house, or the time he had spent there — most of which had been arguing with his sisters and parents, trying to convince them that his type wasn’t a reason to keep him from doing things.

As soon as they stepped out of the car, two identical little girls came to greet them. They were a bit taller than Amelia, with big, curious green eyes and wavy ginger hair. They were his sisters, he knew that much, but there wasn’t anything familiar in them. They were strangers. They seemed to feel the same for him, because they kept their distance, their gaze interested only in Amelia, who was holding tight to Arthur’s hand.

“C’mon now, won’t you say hi?” Allison urged, and the little girls chanted a “Hello” together. “This is Arthur, our brother, and that’s Alfred, his boyfriend. And this is Amelia, our niece,” she introduced them. Arthur blushed a little. They hadn’t officialized their relationship yet, but it felt nice to have people addressing Alfred as his _boyfriend_. Alfred definitely caught that on his scent, because he placed a warm hand on Arthur’s shoulder, smiling at him.

“Do you want to play with us?” one of the girls asked Amelia, who immediately looked up to Arthur.

“Can I?” she asked. Amelia had always been an energetic kid, making friends easily and enjoying exploring her surroundings. Being in another country was probably being a great adventure for her, and Arthur understood this, but he was also her parent, and he worried for her.

“Don’t you want to eat something first? Or rest?” he tried. Amelia shook her head.

“No, I slept on the plane! Can I?!”

“Let her play,” Alfred said with a soft smile. He looked and smelled tired, and Arthur had this urge to cuddle him.

“Okay, fine… Just be careful. And come look for me when you’re hungry,” Arthur said, and Amelia smiled brightly before running off with Arthur’s little sisters.

Allison laughed, saying “Kids, huh?” and guided them inside, “Autumn and Alex are always running around, they have lots of friends at school and a bunch of imaginary friends too… you had a lot of imaginary friends as well, remember, Arthur?” she teased, and Arthur shrugged.

“Only because you didn’t let me play with you guys.”

“You were too frail for our violent alpha games, little brother,” she laughed loudly, and Arthur suppressed the need to pout and say _was not!_

_That_ was way too familiar, and it was beginning to make him feel nostalgic, and he didn’t want to feel that way. He was still stubbornly holding on to not liking his family.

“Anyway… Anna is busy with her pub downtown and whatnot, so she’s not coming this weekend, but she sends her regards.”

Arthur was about to nod and politely ask about his mother which, after all, was the reason he had come all the way there, but he had to stop himself when Alfred bluntly asked:

“Why does everyone’s name start with an A?”

Arthur and Allison stopped, looking at each other for a second as if considering that for the first time.

Then they laughed, Allison more than Arthur.

“I don’t know, I guess my mother has a thing for the letter A?” he said, shrugging.

“ _You_ named your child Amelia,” Alfred raised his eyebrows, and Arthur just shrugged again.

“Guess I have a thing for it too, _A_ lfred.”

Laughing, Allison guided them inside and down the hall. There were pictures of the girls on the walls, and family pictures, they all together and smiling. Arthur wasn’t in any of them, and he noticed so right away, but he tried to pretend he didn’t. The house smelled of childhood: like old wooden furniture and freshly baked goods. In the back of his mind, he could almost see himself running down the stairs, stuffed bunny in hand, calling for his _mum_ , asking to play outside.

Allison opened the door to an unfamiliar guest room and told them they could leave their luggage there. It was a small room, with a double bed and an extra mattress against the wall, a nightstand, and a dresser. Arthur wanted to ask about _his_ room, but he didn’t.

“I’ll get something for you to eat, dad should be home in a couple hours and, well…” she hesitated there, and Arthur didn't like it.

“And what?” he asked.

“Well… he doesn’t know you were coming.”

That didn’t sound good.

“... why not?”

Allison took in a lot of air.

“He didn’t want us to contact you. Mum’s been begging to talk to you, and he always said no, to forget about it… when she asked _me_ , I just couldn’t say no… I thought you should come here, that she should be able to see you… dad won’t be happy, but he’s never at home anyway, he goes straight to bed and leaves first thing in the morning, I’m sure he won’t even _notice_. He didn’t notice when I used to stay out for _days_.”

That didn’t sound good at _all_.

Arthur felt angry, and it made him want to cry.

“Why didn’t you tell me this little detail beforehand? I… I think, maybe we should stay somewhere else, then. I don’t want to see him either, I…”

“Arthur, c’mon now, it’s fine, you’re already here…”

Arthur shook his head, feeling his heart pounding and his mind racing, and then Alfred’s hand was on his shoulder, his scent was close and he felt his body relax a little bit.

“Artie, it’s okay. And there’s nothing to worry about, I’m here to protect you. Your father won’t notice and if he does, I won’t let him say anything bad to you,” Alfred reassured him.

Arthur was still not happy about it. He felt betrayed. He hadn’t thought much about it, but when Allison contacted him, he assumed that his father was in with Arthur visiting too. He remembered a family dinner when he was a child, maybe seven or eight, when he told an aunt he wanted to be an astronaut someday. He remembered the way his father’s nose twitched and he said _Don’t be ridiculous, Arthur_. Arthur did not like that memory or any of the other that came with it. Honestly, it was surprising that his father had allowed him to go study abroad. He wondered how much his mother had had to butter him up for that.

But he ended up sighing and nodding.

“Fine,” he said, and Allison smiled at him.

He couldn’t deny that the idea of annoying his father by being there was a bit appealing. Still, he planned on being in the guest room by the time he arrived. The mean things his father had shouted at him all those years ago still ring in his ears, and he’d rather not have to face him. He was afraid he’d end up crying if he did. He remembered his father’s scent just vaguely, but it was enough to leave him restless. He was glad Allison and Alfred were with him to numb the scent of the house away.

Deciding not to think about all that, he followed Allison and Alfred to the kitchen, where she fixed them some sandwiches and juice. Arthur wasn’t hungry, but he ate anyway.

“When will we go to the hospital?” he asked.

“Tomorrow morning. I figured you’d want to rest a little bit before we went there. Mum will want to keep you there all day,” Allison laughed a bit, “I’m so glad you came, Arthur. Mum’s gonna be so happy.”

Arthur smiled a bit at that, staring at his sandwich. Alfred poked him with his elbow and smiled at him. The cold and tight feeling in his gut was definitely showing in his scent, then, Arthur thought as he tried to smile a bit wider.

“Hey, can I see Arthur’s old room?” Alfred asked, and Arthur held in his breath.

Allison shrugged awkwardly, “I mean, I can show you the room, but… it’s a computer slash playroom for the twins now…” she sighed, “Right after, uh… well, dad gave all the furniture away and stuff… he was really angry. Mum tried to stop him, but it was no use. He wouldn’t listen to us.”

“He was always really possessive. He must’ve been really angry at me for not acting like the idea of me he _had_ ,” Arthur rolled his eyes to not show how bothered he was by that.

“We weren’t even allowed to say your name for a while,” Allison sighed, “But, well… Anna and I, we saved some of your stuff in boxes in the attic. We were hoping you’d come home soon.”

Arthur snorted.

“Why would I come back? You all left me when I needed you the most. I sure as hell didn’t feel welcome.”

“I’m sorry,” Allison said, holding her glass and looking away.

Arthur thought she would explain herself, or add anything else, but she didn’t. She just stood there.

Alfred shifted on the chair next to him, and Arthur felt a bit guilty at how awkward he smelled. He felt bad to be throwing Alfred in that mess.

“... Can I see the boxes? I’d like to show Alfred some pictures of when I was a kid.” he requested, and Allison quickly nodded, asking them to stay there as she went upstairs to get them.

Meanwhile, Arthur leaned against Alfred, resting his head on his shoulder.

“Sorry,” he whispered.

“For what?” Alfred asked, seeming confused.

“For… all of this. My family, my…”

“It’s fine. Really. I mean. I’m a bit lost here, but I’m glad I’m here with you. I wanna be part of your life. And… this must be difficult for you, so… I’m glad I’m here to offer support. Even if it’s just to your head.” Alfred chuckled, ruffling Arthur’s hair and kissing his forehead.

Arthur blushed, a small smile on his lips.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he whispered quietly.

They stayed in silence for a bit, Arthur with his eyes closed. For a moment he felt peaceful, Alfred’s scent calming and relaxing him. Unfortunately, Allison was back too soon, holding a couple of shoeboxes. She put them on the table and smiled to Arthur as he opened one of them.

There wasn’t much in them, but it was enough to fill Arthur with nostalgia, and he found himself smiling as he went through his childhood memories.

There were many pictures — and Alfred examined them all, cooing at each one of them.

“Oh my gosh, look at this one!” he said, holding a picture of a small Arthur grinning proudly and holding a golden paper star, a volcano model to his side.

“My model was the best in class,” Arthur told him, “I was so happy.”

“Oh, _oh,_ can I keep this one?” Alfred asked happily a little bit later, showing Arthur another picture. Arthur was seven in it, hugging a long-eared stuffed bunny, and pouting. He was wearing jeans overalls, a red shirt, a hat, flushed cheeks, and three band-aids on his knee. “You look _so adorable_!”

“He was angry mum wouldn’t let him play in the seesaws,” Allison pointed, and Arthur rolled his eyes.

“I was old enough to play in them,” Arthur defended his seven-year-old self.

“You had just scratched your knee like, five minutes before this picture, playing in tubes.”

“ _Still_.”

Another picture Alfred found in there was of an Arthur in his teens. He was about fourteen years old, and both his older sisters were hugging him. One of them was pinching his cheek and grinning, while Arthur looked slightly annoyed and tired.

“Look at your hair!” Alfred shouted happily, holding Arthur’s sleeve to get his attention.

“Yeah, I know…” Arthur chuckled. In the picture, his hair was shoulder-length and extremely messy, “I was trying to let my hair grow… this picture is awful, though. My hair was always really tamed and pretty. This photo was just after my first heat…”

“ _Oh_ , really?” Alfred blinked in surprise, staring at the picture.

“Mum was proud but as older sisters, we were making sure Arthur was having a hell of a time,” Allison laughed.

“Thanks for that,” Arthur rolled his eyes, “you were annoying me so much about the hair, I shaved it a few days later.”

“Like, shaved it _all_?” Alfred asked.

“Yes. He was having a fit and shaved it all himself. Dad was really mad at him,” Allison explained.

“Do you have a picture of that?”

“Nope,” Arthur answered for her.

There were some notebooks there as well, with essays, song lyrics and math equations. The bottom of each page was full of doodles and scribbles. There were drawings, too. Solar systems, starry skies, rockets flying in the middle of meteors. Alfred was really enjoying those.

“I love this one of you and a cat in a rocket, very creative,” he laughed, and Arthur punched his arm lightly.

As Allison left to check on the kids, Alfred asked, “Did you want to be an astronaut?”

Arthur laughed.

“My parents always made sure I knew how impossible that was. But… I always loved stars and all that… I’ve always had a knack with numbers, so I wanted to study Mathematics… well, Astrophysics, actually, but there was _no way_ my parents would allow me, so I went for something more _realistic_ ,” he made air quotes, “But, well, back then I was thinking maybe I could teach those things if I didn’t get to work with anything related to space, you know?” he sighed.

“You could still study it,” Alfred encouraged him, holding his hand, “There are community colleges, you could get your degree, and…”

“I’m too old for that,” Arthur laughed.

“You’re barely twenty-six!”

Arthur frowned, “You know what I mean. I got a child now. I can’t just keep dreaming. I barely have time as it is.”

“Maybe in a few years…” Alfred was saying, but Arthur shook his head.

“I appreciate you trying to encourage me, but… I’m done with college and all that,” he said, but he couldn’t help the little bit of sadness that escaped to his scent. Alfred caressed his cheek lightly.

“You should think about it some more, you know. I’ll make a drawing for you. Like that one with the cat in space,” he announced.

“Oh, now you show me your drawings?” Arthur rolled his eyes, a small smile on his lips.

“Well, I mean, I don’t like them too much. Besides, I barely draw anything good these days. You know… I always loved the idea of astronauts too. But I’ve never been too good with the numbers and the other boring parts of it, so I focused on the science fiction part,” Alfred laughed, “so I studied design, and now… I’m designing boring ads…” he sighed.

“You’re still young, though. You’ll find something more related to things you like. I’m sure of that,” Arthur squeezed his hand, and Alfred brought Arthur’s hand to his lips to kiss it.

“You too.”

“I like doing what I do, though. At the hotel. Everyone is really nice…” Arthur smiled.

“Lucky you,” Alfred answered, smiling as well.

“What the _bloody fuck_ are _you_ doing here?”

The voice startled them both, and Arthur felt his face becoming pale as he turned around to see his father standing at the kitchen backdoor.

His father.

He looked as tall and broad-shouldered as Arthur remembered. And his scent, that Arthur had almost forgotten, but now that he was standing there, it made Arthur gulp. His scent was so intimidating…

He was a strong alpha. When Arthur was a small child, he used to feel secure when his father was around; he’d beg to be held in his arms so he could sleep with his head on his shoulder. He remembered feeling safe and protected, and then, as he got older and rebellious, he remembered feeling tense around him, and uneasy.

As his father stepped inside the house, Arthur felt his body shiver, and he felt scared.

Alfred stood up at the same time Arthur’s father stepped in, but Arthur barely noticed it.

There was so much tension in the air he felt like he could suffocate in it.

All he could do was stare at those stone cold green eyes in front of him.


End file.
